This Weekend’s On Patrol: Live Highlights, Commentary, and Social Media Activity

On Patrol: Live Season 3: An On Patrol: Live recap including NYC studio host/executive producer Dan Abrams’ puns, analysis, and banter with analyst Captain Tom Rizzo (Howell Township, N.J., PD), along with the often-provocative or playful social media reaction, follows.

Co-host Curtis Wilson, a Richland County, S.C., deputy sheriff, has the weekend off.

 [Best viewed in Google Chrome] 

The state of Oklahoma is, however, well represented on the studio panel this weekend with retired Tulsa cop Sean “Sticks” Larkin, one of the three OG studio analysts for On Patrol: Live (and Live PD before that), and Oklahoma County Sheriff Tommie Johnson III both returning to the set as analysts for this weekend’s episodes.

On Patrol: Live tonight: Trucks in a ditch and unusual nicknames seemed to form the themes of this episode. On a much more serious note, footage of an armed standoff in New Mexico shocked many viewers. See below for details on all 28 law enforcement encounters that included eight On Patrol: Live departments on this new episode of On Patrol: Live on Reelz.

How to Watch or Stream On Patrol: Live/Where to Watch On Patrol: Live

Reelz, the home of On Patrol: Live, has implemented a standalone streaming app, Reelz+, for subscribers to access all the channel’s content, including On Patrol Live episodes.

On Patrol: Live airs new, three-hour episodes on Friday and Saturday evening starting at 9 p.m. Eastern time. For background information about the documentary ride-along series On Patrol: Live (i.e., Live PD 2.0), that airs on the Reelz channel (which is also available, e.g., on the Peacock, FreeCast, Philo, Sling,and Frndly TV streaming services, and on some satellite and cable systems such as DirectTV, DISH Network, AT&T U-verse, and Verizon FIOS TV), click on this link.

On Patrol: Live episodes: Just about every incident covered on On Patrol: Live in each of its first-run shows is really live. Footnote: The content is subject, however, to a delay ranging from about five to 20 minutes primarily for legal reasons, and obviously apart from any pre-recorded packages.

On Patrol: Live Recap for May 16, 2025 (#OPL Episode 03-79)

On Patrol Live stats 05_16_25
Please review this important DISCLAIMER.
  • Berkeley County, S.C. (just before air) — Responding to another call, Corporal Devonte Carr spots a truck in a ditch. He makes contact with the driver, who seems somewhat unsteady on his feet. Noticing the On Patrol: Live videographer, the driver repeatedly asks “who’s this guy?” Corporal Carr: “I already told you; it’s a documentary. Calm down.” Investigation ongoing.

Corporal Carr recap: “..as we were coming down the state road, this pickup disregarded the stop sign, blew it completely, ran off into a ravine. He’s not injured in any way. Got him out…of his car. He’s stumbling around. I smell the odor of alcohol on his breath. So I got a traffic unit en route to us to kind of observe or talk to him further so they can investigate that part. And once we get that, we’ll move on with what we have, but that’s where we are right now.”

  • Knox County, Tenn. — Officers Kirsten Yule-Zaagman and Ashley Coons on a traffic stop. The cooperative driver informs the officers that he has a gun. “I have nothing to hide.” Cops discover a second gun during a car search. Officer Yule-Zaagman: “That’s a big old gun. You remember the little tiny one, but you don’t remember the big old one?” The driver is detained but is subsequently released with his guns after a driver’s license check. He mentions that he owns about 20 firearms. Officer Yule-Zaagman recap: “This young man, we pulled over…he initially said his license was canceled, and he was also swerving, weaving, within traffic, and then he had a couple of guns in the car. So we wanted to make everyone safe and make sure that we removed him from that vicinity. But he’s good, so I’m gonna give these back to him and send him on his way.”

Listen to the panel discuss gun laws and how they differ from state to state:

  • Las Vegas, Nev. — Officer Preston Prescia makes contact with man in a park who apparently is living in his truck with his dog.
  • Berkeley County, S.C. — Deputy Bradly [or Bradley — the spelling on On Patrol: Live has fluctuated] and other units initiate a traffic stop on a possibly stolen pickup truck. Two occupants, neither of whom apparently have a license. Deputy Brown speaks to the owner by phone who indicates that the vehicle is not stolen. On Patrol: Live caption: “Gramps to the rescue.” The male occupant is told to smash a crack pipe and the tries to throw it into a tree. Deputy Brown: “You weren’t a baseball player, were you?” The occupants are released with a warning, but apparently a licensed driver needs to come to the scene for the truck. “I could charge you for the meth pipe and all the syringes and baggies.”

On Patrol: Live host Dan Abrams: “…this guy turns out had permission to be driving this car from his dad, but he can’t give you permission to have a meth pipe, which is what he had, and that is what the officer had just asked him to destroy there…you learn something new every day. Apparently a suspended license does not entitle you to a police escort…’can you just drive with me, behind me?’ No…the officer can’t do that with a suspended license.”

Deputy Brown recap: “Sounds like the vehicle is actually not stolen. Dad got it back and failed to report it to us that he got the vehicle back, and then it was impounded, and he retrieved it again. So son actually had permission tonight to use it. So we’re gonna cut him lose tonight with a warning and then make sure the vehicle’s taken out of NCIC.”

  • Clayton County, Ga. — Lieutenant Brandon Warren conducts a friendly traffic stop. On Patrol: Live caption: “U-Haul in a ditch.” Lieutenant Warren and another officer pull the truck over after it had gotten back on the road. Two occupants; after cops pull over the vehicle and make contact, the occupants switch positions because of a license issue. They are released with a warning.

Lieutenant Warren recap: “His license is suspended. Older couple…he doesn’t remember the ticket he got, but he said it might have happened during COVID. He’s not sure. Everybody doesn’t deserve to got to jail, so we decided to give him a warning on that. They did switch. The lady’s gonna drive the U-Haul back to the hotel. They’re also going through hard times. Sometimes I feel like we do give them a citation, and then put them back a little bit further. So a verbal warning — a lot of people respect that. So we’re gonna give him a verbal warning on his driver’s license. They’re already going through hard times, so we’ll let him go about his way.”

“…we’re gonna give him a verbal warning on his driver’s license. They’re already going through hard times,..”

  • Knox County, Tenn. — Officer Yule-Zaagman and colleagues initiate a traffic stop for a revoked license. In response to a question from one or both of the two occupants, cops explain that OPL cameras are on scene for a documentary. Both are detained and Mirandized in the course of the investigation. Officer Yule-Zaagman: “Does the vehicle got insurance?” Subject: “Yes.” Officer Yule-Zaagman: “It does? Good for you.” K9 Tyson allegedly alerts. Probable cause car search. Officer Coons: “…we keep finding interesting things in this car.” Drug paraphernalia allegedly found.

Officer Yule-Zaagman recap: “So the dog had a positive alert on the vehicle, and from our search, we discovered a powder that is consistent with fentanyl in one of the ladies’ possession. So she’s probably going to take a ride for that, and then our driver, who is not only revoked, also has some other business out of another county to take care of. So she’s going to. So it looks like they’re both going at this point.” Abrams comments on the car search: “It looks like a time capsule back there. Items from the 70s and 80s, and then a few phone chargers from the early 90s…”

“…we’re gonna get a tow and get this vehicle out of her and then be on our merry way.”

Officer Yule-Zaagman adds that “we spotted this lady at a local gas station, and we knew that she had a revoked driver’s license. We observed her then driving the vehicle, so a traffic stop was conducted, At that point, a K9 also alerted on the vehicle after running the vehicle, and we found what appears to be fentanyl in the passenger’s possession. So both the driver and the passenger are going to be taking rides for those charges. So we’re gonna get a tow and get this vehicle out of her and then be on our merry way.”

  • Berkeley County, S.C. — Deputy Brown responds to a call about a man laying in the middle of the road. The individual is on his feet when Deputy Brown arrives. The subject says he’s fine. “What did you take? Don’t lie.” Paramedics summoned to the scene, and he is transported to a hospital. On Patrol: Live caption: “Drugs found.” A neighbor initially thought a cat was in the street. Deputy Brown: “Thought he was a cat? Oh, that’s a big-ass cat!” EMTs transport the subject to the hospital. Abrams: “I’m just picturing this guy lying in the middle of the road with his headsets on him, like listening to really calming music…” Deputy Brown: “He said he was stargazing right there.”

Deputy Brown: “Thought he was a cat? Oh, that’s a big-ass cat!”

Listen to some of Deputy Brown’s interaction with the subject during which he comments that “most normal people don’t just lay in the street”:

On Patrol: Live Hour 2

  • Triple Play #1 — A disturbing Bernalillo County armed standoff (according to On Patrol: Live studio analyst Tom Rizzo: “…unlike any we’ve seen before”) with two boys ages seven and nine. Abrams: “I honestly did not believe it until I was able to actually see it myself.” Rizzo: “That makes two of us.” After the footage airs, Abrams mentions that “we have been told that police have visited the house where these kids live on more than 50 separate occasions. Two children have not been charged. Sheriff’s Office is working with behavioral health services to get the entire family the help that they need.”

Dan Abrams: “We have been told that police have visited the house where these kids live on more than 50 separate occasions.

  • Monroe, La. — Corporal Kelsie Wilson and Officer Serenity Smith make contact with a pedestrian who allegedly was peeping into some homes. Abrams quips that “he’s otherwise known as Superman…just looking at some real estate in the area.”
  • Richland County, S.C. — Master Deputy Collins Harper responds to a call about some juveniles with a gun. He makes contact and detains three teens one of whom is allegedly holding the purported weapon; the gun turns out to be fake. Deputy Harper admonishes them for the potential consequences of their actions. “What are y’all thinking?…why would you do this with a gun at law enforcement…it shouldn’t have to be said. Saying its fake and raising a gun towards law enforcement is not in the best of ideas..it doesn’t have an orange barrel on it. It’s got a simulated drum mag on it…if someone raised that up, okay, how am I supposed to determine that it’s fake by you just saying it’s fake? So you saying it’s fake, and the next thing I go is, ‘oh, it’s fake,” and you go ‘click,’ and it’s actually real…”

Listen to more of the interaction in this potentially dangerous incident followed by a panel discussion about the implications (On Patrol: Live analyst Sean ‘Sticks’ Larkin: “It’s a split-second decision…” — OPL guest analyst Sheriff Tommie Johnson: “Especially at night. You can’t see; vision is limited…”):

Deputy Harper: “…I think this is gonna be a big education moment for these young kids so they can understand the severity. There’s not just a reset button on like when you make a decision like this…”

  • Monroe, La. — Cops make a traffic stop on a car that appears to be hot wired. The driver is released with a warning.
  • Daytona Beach, Fla. — Officer Thomas Goble searches for a reckless driver that allegedly fled from police earlier that day.
  • Triple Play #2 — A Catoosa, Okla., police pursuit. Driver to cops after he is detained following the chase: “Can I get a cigarette?”
  • Knox County, Tenn. (pre-recorded segment) — Abrams introduces the segment by joking that “officers tried to answer an age-old question: ‘Where’s the beef-y.'” Acting on a tip, Officer Aaron Johnson and other cops detain a man nicknamed Beefy inside a clothing store who allegedly has 20 warrants. “What did I do?”

Listen to Officer Johnson briefly explain the basis for an arrest followed some studio panel banter:

  • Lee County, Fla. — Officer Mike Knapp, along with the Fire Department, respond to a car fire in a residential area. Abrams: “It was Zach, our on-set firefighter here who works with our team, was just telling us it could be situation where using foam to put out car fire, that can be carcinogenic. And so they spray [the firefighters] afterwards…I’m quoting him, and it doesn’t mean he’s right.”
  • Lee County, Fla. — Deputy Layne Reeves is surveilling a vehicle in a parking lot for a potential traffic stop; the registered owner allegedly has priors for narcotics possession. The deputy is also observing some “transient individuals” on scene. Abrams: “So he’s on the lookout there. I guess that would be called patrol.”

On Patrol: Live Hour 3

  • BOLO segment — Hazen, Ark. Captain Rizzo interviews On Patrol: Live fan favorite Bradley Taylor, the Hazen police chief, about the wanted man.
  • Richland County, S.C. — In a friendly manner, Deputy Harper and Corporal TJ Norton respond to a noise complaint at a residence. Corporal Norton: “So everybody’s going to keep it down, and I tell you what, it’s warming up. I was thinking about doing down that slide down there for a minute, but then I’d bet wet all night, so I can’t do that.”
  • Monroe, La. — Corporal Wilson and Officer Smith apparently arrest a man for alleged trespassing. Abrams: “So everyone seems to agree that he was trespassed. The question just becomes what was he allowed exactly to do now and where exactly did that happen.

Listen to Officer Smith recap this incident after which Sheriff Johnson explains that “I can completely appreciate what they’re doing there. When people feel unsafe in the community, it’s law enforcement’s job to make that space safe. And the loitering, selling dope, guns in the area, we have elderly people that don’t feel like they can come out in their own yard, I completely appreciate how they’re handling that.” Abrams: “Aggressive patrols.”

  • Lee County, Fla. (pre-recorded segment) — Police search for a suspect (who Abrams asserts had an “electrifying nickname”) after a physical altercation called in by a third-party complainant/witness. Paramedics summoned for the victim who is bleeding from head. Deputies subsequently detain a bicyclist at gunpoint. According to the alleged suspect, “I didn’t initiate it. He initiated it. Honestly, he wanted some drugs. And I went and got it for him without the money. I gave it to him, and he gave me a fake $100 bill.”

Listen to Deputy Alex Chami outline the charges followed by a studio panel discussion of the incident:

  • Lee County, Fla. (pre-recorded segment) — Cops pursue and detain a fleeing subject who allegedly brandished a knife to steal a car at a gas station. Deputy Lukas Kontinos: “This is a kind of an escalation from what he normally does because he’s usually, like, stealing from the gas station, or he’s drinking alcohol, or smoking weed. Sometimes we Baker Acted him, but this time, he’s attempting to carjack people. That’s a step up…his nickname for is Slim Shady…right now, the charges are gonna be attempted carjacking, maybe even aggravated assault with a deadly weapon because he allegedly had a knife. So detectives are gonna handle it from here. They’re gonna interview him. We’re gonna take him down to headquarters and go from there. But our job’s done; we caught him, and that’s it.”
  • Daytona Beach, Fla. — Lieutenant Richie Maher responds to a report of a burglary in progress at an apartment complex. False alarm: It turns out to be just a resident who is using the on-site gym after hours. Lieutenant Maher jokes that the man is sitting there texting on his phone instead of actually exercising. “He’s just going home to tell someone he was in the gym. That’s not a lie. Working out — that might not be true.”
  • Knox County, Tenn. — Officer Yule-Zaagman and other units conduct a traffic stop at a gas station. Suspended license. Consensual car search; drug paraphernalia allegedly found.
  • Berkeley County, S.C. — Deputy Brown is purportedly flagged down by a female pedestrian who, during the course of the conversation, says her dog was baptized. Deputy Brown: “So we just got out, checked on her. She just needed some gloves for her hands. We were able to provide her a pair to help her drag, maybe to help out with some of the blisters. And hopefully, she get she dog back in church.”

Listen to the studio panel banter about this incident:

  • Daytona Beach, Fla. — Officer Goble and Lieutenant Maher make a traffic stop on an alleged suspicious vehicle. Multiple occupants. They detain a passenger who appears to be allegedly reaching for something. “Dude, I thought you were reaching for a flipping gun or something. You did all that for a crack pipe?… really dumb.” On Patrol: Live caption: “Drug paraphernalia found.”

Listen to Officer Goble summarize what’s going on (“…he was reaching down for stuff, which is a huge no-no in the law enforcement world. We don’t know if he’s reaching for weapon…”) and interact with the subject in the context of same:

  • Lee County, Fla. — Deputy Reeves makes contact with a homeowner on a complaint of a stolen dirt bike, a street bike, and a motorcycle.
  • Berkeley County, S.C. — Corporal Carr and Deputy Brown respond to a call about a female allegedly threatening someone with a gun at an apartment complex and who fled on foot. Corporal Carr: “We’re en route to a gun call. The complainant called in saying that a person was rummaging through their apartment and had a gun on him, and she pointed the gun at him. They said they advised that they know who she is. I guess at the time of call that she left the apartment on foot. So we’re en route now because it could possibly turn into a track…we’ll get there and kind of determine the charges, and if the victim wants to prosecute anything, and then one we get that determined, we can get the dog on the ground and start a track.” Abrams: “Remember that Corporal Car is riding with K9 Odin, that’s why he’s talking about the possibility of a track there.”
  • Knox County, Tenn. — As the episode concludes, Officer Joseph Morrell investigates a domestic incident at a residence and makes contact with a female on scene. “How much have you had to drink?” “A lot.” The female is detained possibly for a suspected DUI.
Click on this link for the On Patrol: Live recap of #OPL episode 03-80, May 17, 2025  [forthcoming] .