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- Sitting in the middle of the US, I can see about -uh, four? maybe five different real-police-type shows on TV. WHere a camera guy goes out with real police officers and shows them arresting people, for whatever. One is a British show that mostly shows people driving illegally, but the others are US shows. Some shows seem to blur the suspects’ faces and some don’t. Why the difference? I notice on regular news casts that show people getting arrested, they usually blur out the arrested people’s faces, even when it’s shown on a public street…? What cop shows can you watch where you’re at, and do they blur busted people’s faces or not?
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I always guessed that the blurred faces were of people who were innocent, uninvolved bystanders whose permission the show never got. And occasionally a cop who doesn’t want to be shown, perhaps because they work under cover. But I don’t know, it’s just a guess.
Someone who really knows the answer may be along shortly; for the moment, I seem to recall reading somewhere that they blur the faces if they don’t have a signed release from the subject. I remember the article noting with some surprise that quite a few miscreants are more than happy to sign releases.
IANAE, but my WAG is that it could be to do with whether the person in question is a suspect or if it has been proven that they did what they were arrested for.
I think one reason they blur faces is so that the person in question will get a fair (or fairer) trial. Therefore, if the person has already been prosecuted and found guilty by the time the show goes out they will not have to worry about affecting potential jury memebers.
Rick
I always thought the show COPS should have a laugh track.
–Nut
At least on “Cops”, the only show faces of people who have signed releases. I saw an interview with one of the cameramen, who was laughing about people doing truly stupid or terrible things, then signing a release to have the whole thing shown on television.