TV show ‘COPS’ heads to Bexar County to ride with officers

An arrest on the TV show ‘COPS,’ which airs on cable channel Spike. Bexar County officers will be featured in at least one episode of the national reality show early next year. An arrest on the TV show ‘COPS,’ which airs on cable channel Spike. Bexar County officers will be featured in at least one episode of the national reality show early next year. Photo: Langley Productions Photo: Langley Productions Image 1 of / 35 Caption Close TV show ‘COPS’ heads to Bexar County to ride with officers 1 / 35 Back to Gallery

TV’s long-running reality show “COPS,” which showcases police busting criminal acts such as prostitution and illegal drug sales, is coming to San Antonio.

Commissioners Court on Tuesday approved the use of Bexar County officers for the series, which airs on cable TV channel Spike.

“It’s something we’re very excited about,” said Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar.

He said camera crews from the show, which is produced by Langley Productions, will ride along with patrol deputies starting later this month. They’ll continue through November.

The footage gathered will be used for at least one episode in the next season.

“Apparently they’ve got it down to a science, where they know an agency this size for that much time will produce enough footage,” Salazar said.

Local segments should air in early 2018.

Taking part in the show won’t cost the Sheriff’s Office any money, Salazar said, and “we won’t make anything off it, either.”

That doesn’t mean there won’t be benefits.

“We get to highlight our deputies and also get a boom in our recruitment numbers,” he said. “When we’re put on a national stage, recruitment numbers go up.

“We've got vacancies on the law enforcement side and on the detention side. Right now, we're looking to close that gap and not have any vacancies on either side of the agency by January. This will help us close it even quicker and keep it closed.”

Salazar said Langley contacted the San Antonio Police Department a few years ago about doing the show when he was still with that department.

“It came up as a possibility but never came to fruition,” he said.

Producers reached out again right after he became sheriff and he took them up on it.

“COPS,” one of the most popular reality series of all time, launched in 1989 on Fox. In 2013, it moved to Spike, where it airs at 7 p.m. Mondays.

“I remember back when I was looking to get into the business of law enforcement, I used to watch religiously just in hopes of learning something about the profession,” Salazar said.

The show’s theme song, “Bad Boys” by Inner Circle, is one of its most beloved elements, along with its non-scripted, cinéma vérité-style, which frequently includes lots of bleeped-out obscenities and folks in undershirts and boxers.

“They do edit some stuff, but it is pretty realistic,” Salazar said.

People don't realize that “law enforcement is about 98 percent boredom and 2 percent sheer terror,” he added. “Of course, for TV purposes, we capture more of the 2 percent."

A disclaimer runs at the beginning of every episode.

“It says, ‘All supects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law,’” Salazar said. “I believe a waiver also has to be signed by everybody who appears on the show.”

Will he appear?

“Probably not. Everyone has seen enough of me on TV,” he said. “It’s time to highlight some of the troops — officers on patrol for the most part.”

jjakle@express-news.net