The First 48 is an A&E true crime reality show that documents real police investigations for the first 48 hours after a homicide report, including what happens inside interrogation rooms. If this sounds dangerous and ethically questionable, that's because it is. Police accidentally killed a child as A&E's cameras rolled, and a legally innocent man came to be known as a murderer after of his appearance on the show. Catastrophes like these have led to lawsuits, and now many cities refuse to work with The First 48.

Even so, the show has become increasingly popular over the duration of its 13-season run. The most recent complete season had 47 episodes, more than any previous season with more planned for 2014, and A&E has also added a companion show, After the First 48.

The First 48 shares its voyeurism and bloodlust with other reality shows, but differs from them in that it has destroyed, and even ended, the lives of people who never agreed to be involved. Another distinct feature of the show is that almost all of the suspects in it are black. Portrayals of non-black criminals are so rare that it's become something of a social media joke. One user (who has since deleted it) tweeted:

My liver is so black it just claimed self-defense on the First 48.

KING K (@KINGK_80) Watching first 48 and realized. ..its always black people on here being killed or killing. Its like they made this to exploit our ignorance

This portrayal is not representative of American crime statistics. Although homicide arrests are disproportionately high among African Americans, about the same total number of white people are arrested in homicide cases as black people. The First 48's overemphasis on black crime is symptomatic of a larger disrespect for African American communities, which many Americans deem inherently suspicious.

The First 48 wouldn't be as cinematic it is if it didn't routinely disregard the rights and safety of its subjects. The most shocking instance of disregard was the death of seven-year-old Aiyana Stanley-Jones in 2010. Detroit police officer Joseph Weekley shot Aiyana in the head after throwing a "flash-bang" grenade, a diversionary and disorientating tool, through her family's window. Experts on crime in Detroit, including police officers and criminal defense attorneys, suspect Weekley used the evidently dangerous "flash-bang" for cinematic effect, saying that they had never heard of police using the device in this way. The Washington Post reported that Thomas Lobe, an attorney specializing in police misconduct suits, said:

I am absolutely convinced that, when police officers go on search-warrant raids with a film crew tagging along, officers think more about making good television rather than executing a search warrant with concern about the safety of officers and citizens.

Weekley claimed that he shot his gun by accident amidst the confusion the grenade caused. Even if this is true, the details of the case point to gross negligence. The police even attacked the wrong apartment – the suspect they were after actually lived in the apartment above Aiyana and her family. In September, jurors failed to come to a verdict on involuntary manslaughter charges against Weekley, and the judge declared a mistrial. The Huffington Post reported that his retrial is scheduled for this month.

The show has also been accused of encouraging police to speed up investigations in order to fit the 48-hour narrative, thus hurriedly condemning suspects who would have otherwise received more scrutiny. Last month, Taiwan Smart sued the city of Miami for false arrest, false imprisonment, deprivation of civil rights and constitutional violations. Smart claims that he called the police after running from the scene where his two friends were murdered. When he and the police agreed to a meeting place, they arrested him, much to his surprise. In court, Smart claimed that his arrest and subsequent 19 months in jail stemmed from the police's desire to "solve" the double murder "in an expeditious fashion for the television show First 48". He accused the police of withholding documents about the case.

Even release from jail isn't necessarily enough to erase the stigma that comes from appearing on the First 48. Tyson Mimms of Louisville, Kentucky sued A&E in 2011 for invasion of privacy and defamation. For over a year, the episode aired repeatedly with an onscreen message saying that Mimms was "awaiting trial", even though his charges were dismissed due of lack of evidence before the episode first aired.

Mimms also claimed that a field producer tried persistently to get him to sign a release to appear on the show, and aired his interrogation even though he refused to sign. The episode in question, "Eye for an Eye – Dead End", shows Mimms adamantly professing his lack of knowledge about the murder investigation, and subsequently being arrested. Immediately afterward, the investigating officer says that he is happy to "close the door" on the case.

Mimms' lawyer said that because of this appearance, Mimms' community has come to regard him as a murderer. Investigators who appear on the First 48 consistently imply that they have found their murderer at the end of each episode, even though every suspect is legally innocent until proven guilty. An appearance on the First 48 may not mean a prison sentence, but it can still make for a lifetime of social stigma. Mimms was shot to death last year, along with the mother of his child. The full circumstances surrounding their deaths are still unknown.

All of these incidents reek of the same disregard for African Americans' legal rights and safety that characterize many recent controversies, including the stop-and-frisk program, Trayvon Martin's death and George Zimmerman's acquittal, as well as the deaths of Renisha McBride, 19, who was shot to death by a white Detroit homeowner last month, and Jonathan Ferrell, 24, who was killed by police in North Carolina in September.

Both McBride and Ferrell were killed because they tried to ask for help – knocking on homeowners' doors after being involved in car accidents. These tragedies wouldn't happen if Americans weren't too quick to assume that African Americans are guilty and dangerous, and if they didn't use this assumption in order to justify violations of African Americans' rights, including the right to life.

The First 48 thrives off of and perpetuates this systematic injustice by compromising the freedom of Americans for the sake of cheap entertainment.