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

An On Patrol: Live recap including NYC studio host Dan Abrams’ puns, analysis, and banter usually with co-anchor Curtis Wilson (a Richland County, S.C., deputy sheriff), and Captain Tom Rizzo (Howell Township, N.J., PD) along with the often-snarky or playful social media reaction, follows.

Dep. Wilson is taking the weekend off. Ofr. Ryan Tillman (Chino, Calif., PD) is in the studio in Wilson’s absence.

 [Best viewed in Google Chrome.] 

Agency updates: Monroe, La.,, and Butts County (Ga.) Sheriff’s Office join OPL this weekend; Beech Grove, Ind., PD, and the Coweta County, Ga., Sheriff’s Office are out for the time being.

Lawsuit update: On April 15, 2024, the media-focused Puck website published an update about the copyright infringement lawsuit by A&E (the home of Live PD) against OPL producer Big Fish Entertainment, an MGM subsidiary.

The article, written by Eriq Gardner, asserts, in part, that a motion for summary judgment (a standard procedural way to attempt to get a lawsuit dismissed before trial) filed by Big Fish contained “manifold surprises.”

“…starting with Big Fish’s bold assertion, rooted in a close reading of its contract with A&E, that it was perfectly within its rights to shop a similar show after waiting out the year following the final episode’s broadcast. But A&E, I’ve heard, is prepared to offer a remarkable counterargument: that there was no final episode, per se, because Live PD was never really canceled in the first place. And that, despite all the headlines about how the show had become a casualty of a long-overdue reckoning with racial issues, A+E Networks president Paul Buccieri never formally axed the program—and A&E therefore maintains full rights to reboot it. Forget cancel culture; welcome to the era of uncancel culture…

The article also claims that supposedly “Live PD, which was produced under [reality show mogul Mark Burnett’s] auspices, was generating hundreds of millions of dollars annually.”

Gardner offers two possible explanations for what he characterized as A&E’s “legal aggression.”

One view, sympathetic to MGM, suggests that upon witnessing the success of On Patrol, Buccieri and A&E’s executives may have recognized a colossal blunder, and in an effort to cover their own hides, told the company’s board that its former partner had craftily produced an unauthorized version behind their backs, prompting a visit to the courthouse. Alternatively, there’s the notion that A&E is simply doing what any creator would do, instinctively, upon seeing their original work exploited without permission. 

With so many facts, or alleged facts, in dispute, it seems highly unlikely that a judge will grant the summary judgment motion. Instead, the case is likely headed to trial in federal court, unless there is some big movement toward a settlement of some kind.

For background information about On Patrol: Live (i.e., Live PD 2.0), that airs on the Reelz channel (which is available on the Peacock and FreeCast streaming services), click here.

On Patrol: Live Summary for October 18, 2024 (#OPL Episode 03-25)

Please review this important DISCLAIMER.
  • Richland County, S.C. — Dep. Jerry Cullen and another unit investigate a shot fired into a residence and find a shell casing on the floor. Dep. Cullen: “The homeowner was saying that when the shot went off, the bullet came through, went through the door, went through the wall there, went into the other room, through the TV, and the wall.”

OPL host Dan Abrams: “We were sitting here debating whether it’s the actual bullet. It seems it is, right?” OPL studio analyst Tom Rizzo: “Yeah; forensics and ballistics always try to use science to project where the round would have went, but in this case, it kind of makes no sense as to where it actually landed if you follow the trajectory of it. So it’s interesting, but they’re gonna take that obviously and analyze it, but it goes to show that you can’t predict all the time the direction of travel as best we can.” Abrams: “The magic bullet…”

  • Arkansas County, Ark. — Dep. Marcus Ryan makes a traffic stop on a smoking car. Dep. Ryan summary: “His car is not actually on fire. Cylinder six is missing. That’s what it is, cylinder number six, so he’s drove it to Atlanta, Georgia, like that before, and he’s gonna continue to drive it, I guess, smoking. Call him ‘Smokey the Bandit;’ I don’t. know. That’s crazy.” Abrams: “The good news is it doesn’t always smoke like that. Just some of the time.”
  • Butts County, Ga. –Sheriff Gary Long and Sgt. Hunter Hemphill initiate a traffic stop for a lights infraction (green headlights) and expired registration. “Your attitude determines your altitude.” After a contentious discussion with the driver, the sheriff eventually allows the man to switch out the lights on the side of the road and go on his way. “If you can make it safe to drive, then I’ll let you drive it.” Tow cancelled. Citations may or may not be issued. Abrams: “All things considered, the sheriff here is giving him a significant pass.”

“Your attitude determines your altitude.”

  • Butts County, Ga. (pre-recorded segment) — Sgt. Hemphill and other units purse an detain two subjects after they allegedly fled from a traffic stop. When one of the subjects complains of leg cramps, the sergeant says “don’t run from the police…if you don’t run, they won ‘t cramp on you.” Contraband allegedly found in vehicle. Abrams: “Testing revealed the 13 Mylar-sealed bags contained 13 kilos of a type of meth sold on the street as ‘cat.'” Rizzo: “Stinks for them, man. Just picked up all that product. Somebody’s got some answering to do on that one.”
  • Daytona Beach, Fla. — Lt. Richie Maher and Ofr. Magen Geary patrol a downtown area during Biketoberfest (OPL shows glimpses of the event three more times during the broadcast). Abrams implies that he’d like to attend the event next year.
  • Monroe, La. — Ofrs. Jonathon Daniel, Trey Goins, and Nathanael Chapman on a bicycle stop. A baggie of alleged crack cocaine spotted on ground. Subject: “I didn’t drop nothing.” The trio are members of the Monroe PD High Enforcement Apprehension Team (HEAT).
  • Richland County, S.C. — Cpl. Tim Riley and other units assist a woman who lost her car keys outside her home. She subsequently climbs back into her home through the window screen.
  • Monroe, La. — Ofrs. Daniel and Goins assist on a traffic stop. “I ain’t doing nothing wrong.” Open container and a firearm allegedly spotted in vehicle. The driver says the latter belongs to his wife. Ofr. Goins summary: “He’s gonna be charged with open container. And approximately 10 grams of marijuana was found inside the vehicle.”
  • Indian River County, Fla. — Dep. Dave Flores and another unit respond to a trespass call on a truck in a wooded area. The occupants say they were just hanging out. The driver allegedly has an expired license.
https://twitter.com/WSekurity/status/1847454662036688921
  • Butts County, Ga. — Sheriff Long and Sgt. Hemphill conduct a traffic stop. K9 deployed and alerts. OPL guest analyst Ofr. Ryan Tillman: “I think it’s good investigative work. the story that the guy is telling the sheriff isn’t adding up. He’s saying ‘I’m gonna go and replace the parts on the F-150.’ He’s like, these parts don’t add up. So that’s why they’re taking this investigation a little bit further because something’s not clear.”

Sheriff Long explains why the driver is getting arrested:

Triple Play #1 — a Clayton County, Ga., police pursuit of a pest control truck.

  • Arkansas County, Ark. — Dep. Ryan responds to a report of a dog “terrorizing” the neighborhood. He makes contact with some neighbors. The dog is located outside a residence nearby; that homeowner says that she is not the owner. Animal control notified.

Dep. Ryan recap: “I just talked to the female that is currently, I guess, housing the dog. Dog seems to be doing dog things, barking at unknown people and chasing people. So I’m gonna let dispatch know that I found the dog and notify them to have animal control come out and take a look at the dog.” Abrams: “Woman in the house, very chill, though, about the dog.. She’s like, ‘yeah, the dog’s hanging out, but not my dog.'” Rizzo: “A lot of departments that actually have policies that are against us housing dogs as far as transporting them in cars because we can’t transport them safely. So it’s something that we used to do almost as a courtesy and then have animal control come, but they kind of…strayed away from that because we don’t have the proper facilities.’ Tillman: “We used to have the kennel behind our apartment and load the dog in. Put ’em in the kennel and then wait for animal control to get in there.”

  • Monroe, La. — Ofr. Daniel makes friendly contact with a man who was walking in the middle of the road wearing dark clothes which is a “big safety hazard.” Daniel says that he allegedly was “walking around the neighborhood collecting ingredients to make cornbread.” The man is released after a quick license check. Abrams: “It’s old school. You got to borrow some of the ingredients next door, next-door neighbor.”
  • Richland County, S.C. — Cpl. Riley and colleagues respond to a fight and interact with two males who are military veterans from different branches. OPL caption: “This has been declared a draw.”
  • Fontana, Calif. (pre-recorded segment) — Ofr. Joe Richard and other units investigate a report of someone allegedly trying to run people over with his pick-up truck. Cops spot a suspect on foot, take him to the ground, and tase him.

Ofr. Richard recap: “The suspect’s gonna be going to jail for assault with a deadly weapon. He’s gonna get transported to Arrowhead [hospital] because to get checked for tasing. Our victim’s also gonna get transported to get checked on since he got hit off his bike.” Abrams: “Captain Tom Rizzo, you were talking about the tactic they used to take him down.” Rizzo: “In the advent of now BJJ being part of what we do to train, we go, one goes high, one goes low. So it’s like…it looks rough, but it’s expeditious. You take the person down, and then we can control him so that no further injury and nothing else ends up happening. So I wrap him up high, another officer wraps him up down low. You have to go down.” Ofr. Tillman: “I like the fact that they made a quick decision, too. He’s going into his pocket, make the quick decision so that way he keeps his hand out of his pocket.”

  • Monroe, La. — The HEAT squad, including Ofr. Serenity Smith, make another traffic stop. Three occupants. Open containers allegedly spotted. The trio, whose home is nearby, are subsequently released with the proviso not to drive.
  • Indian River County, Fla. (pre-recorded segment) — Cpl. James Ooley and other units respond to an accident (“the reckless driver all has now turned into a crash). They make contact with an older female who indicates that she had “two or three” glasses of wine. She declines field sobriety testing (“I’d rather not”) and is arrested for alleged DUI.

Abrams: “Turns out both tires on the passenger side of her car were flat. At the jail. She blew at .197 and a .206, well over double the legal limit.” Rizzo: “Smaller frame, so it’s gonna be an elevated BAC, blood alcohol, content regardless…”

  • Daytona Beach, Fla. — Det. Noah Galbreath provides on a traffic stop. The motorist apparently incorrectly thought he had a warrant, but winds up getting arrested for allegedly giving cops a fake name.

Listen to Det. Galbreath’s recap:

  • Toledo, Ohio — Ofr. Jordan Freimark and other units respond to a shooting call. A man on scene is on the ground and screaming, but he is apparently not a victim and may be uninvolved in a shooting. “What did I do? What did I didn’t do?” A firearm is allegedly found on the ground. Investigation ongoing.

“What did I do? What did I didn’t do?”

Abrams: “So we think that there is another team with the victim here, but you were just talking about the gun and why everyone’s standing around it.” Rizzo: “Sure. So they’re gonna maintain the integrity of that scene, and what they’re gonna want to do is have some crime scene techs come out and then process that firearm because it wasn’t found on the person of the would-be suspect. So they’ll do what they have to do as far as processing it to tie him to that weapon if they suspect that it actually belongs to him.” Abrams: “And again, this is not just the guy’s being detained because he’s potentially intoxicated. This is a very serious investigation, but again, we shall see what happens as the investigation continues.”

In the recap below, Ofr. Freimark seems to indicate the subject is potentially being arrested for alleged disorderly conduct intoxication pending a further investigation:

  • Triple Play #2 — Utah state police pursuit.
  • Indian River County, Fla. — Dep. Flores searches a residential area on foot in response to a report of loitering and prowling, but does not find any suspicious activity.
  • Daytona Beach, Fla. — Lt. Maher and Ofr. Geary respond to a report of a break-in at Arby’s. The premises appears secure, however.
  • Butts County, Ga. — Sheriff Long et all conduct a traffic stop. A gun and a large amount of cash allegedly found along with possibly some other contraband. The sheriff determines that the pistol is legal if a subject is age 21 or older.

Abrams: “The firearms laws in this country can be confusing in this country.” Rizzo: “No doubt. And that’s what you saw the sheriff doing here, just like we do for narcotics. He’s calling what they call an FFL, a Federal Firearms License Officer, that has experience with it, to say whether or not that would be illegal. There’s just so many provisions: age, type of firearm, magazine capacity. It just balloons, so there’s no way to know it all right here on the scene.”

https://twitter.com/WSekurity/status/1847478275511070791
  • Fontana, Calif. — Ofr. Tonia Lozano arrests a female for alleged shoplifting or theft. The studio panel tries to guess the total dollar amount of the goods in question, which allegedly turns out to be $743, which results in only a misdemeanor citation in that state. Abrams points out that in Cali, “it has to over $950 worth of stuff to make it a felony…”

Listen to Ofr. Lozano explain what allegedly happened in the incident:

  • BOLO update (San Antonio, Tex.) and new BOLO segment (Orange County, Calif.)
  • Arkansas County, Ark. (pre-recorded segment) — Dep. Ryan conducts a traffic stop for expired tags. Suspended license. The driver allegedly records a .131 and a .129 on a breathalyzer. The driver is arrested.
  • Indian River County, Fla. — Dep. Jose Martinez drives a store scooter/motorized shopping cart back to Target after a shoplifting call.
  • Arkansas County, Ark. — Dep. Ryan makes a friendly traffic stop on a car for a headlight issue and releases the driver with a warning. “Car’s good. They’re good. And let them go on their way and fix their headlight…it’s good seeing people that weren’t doing so good that are finally doing good and flipped their life around and seem happy now. So that’s why I do it.” Abrams: “Great to see.”
  • Daytona Beach, Fla. — Det. Galbreath conducts a traffic stop on a U-Haul truck. K9 deployed.
CLICK HERE for the #OPL 03-26, October 19, 2024, recap.