# Why don't suspects on "Cops" ever mention the cameras? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 13, 2006, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-suspects-on-cops-ever-mention-the-cameras/360625 "2006-06-13T23:27:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![threemae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f9b8f/32.png) [@threemae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threemae)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2006, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-suspects-on-cops-ever-mention-the-cameras/360625/41 "2006-06-15T07:13:16Z")
[QUOTE=Terminus Est] The people who say “Get that camera off me!” are unlikely to sign a release allowing their image to be shown on TV. [/QUOTE] I recall one of the producers of COPS being on NPR a while ago. He said that people generally agreed to relese the footage because their cameramen and producers playd, well, “good cops.” You’ve just been arrested, you’re sitting on a curb handcuffed, everyone is yelling at you, telling you to shut the fuck up. So a TV producer walks up to you calmly, offers a little bit of sympathy, and asks politlely if you could do him this “little favor” of signing a release for him. Apparently, that usually works, or at least it works often enough to base a show off of. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2006, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-suspects-on-cops-ever-mention-the-cameras/360625/42 "2006-06-15T12:52:11Z")
[QUOTE=Bricker] Again: there is no rule that requires police to inform arrestees of the charges. That is required at _arraignment_. Not at arrest. I certainly agree it’s sound police practice to inform people why they’re being arrested. But it’s not constitutionally required. [/QUOTE] _And see_ footnote 3 of the opinion: > [@](#): > > Even absent a requirement that an individual be informed of the reason for arrest when he is taken into custody, he will not be left to wonder for long. “[P]ersons arrested without a warrant must promptly be brought before a neutral magistrate for a judicial determination of probable cause.” County of Riverside v. McLaughlin, 500 U. S. 44, 53 (1991). ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2006, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-suspects-on-cops-ever-mention-the-cameras/360625/43 "2006-06-15T13:04:15Z")
[QUOTE=Bear\_Nenno] But I think it is currently either a COPS policy, or court presidence, and they no longer enter homes. [/QUOTE] _See Wilson v. Layne_, cited earlier in this thread. Both \*Wilson \* and _Hanlon_ involved execution of warrants, but I doubt the fact that a search falls within an exception to the warrant requirement will make a difference. The two kinds of cases where I have seen the camera enter a home recently are: 1. Someone in the home has called the cops, and I’m guessing, perhaps off camera, has invited the crew in. 2. Drug house takedowns (I don’t know if this footage predates 1999). I wonder though if broadcasting the result of an invasion of privacy (the court held that it was an invasion of privacy, but it was reasonable for the cops to think it wasn’t) doesn’t subject the show to liability. They must be: a. Getting consent from somewhere; b. Using officers to video the takedown and broadcasting that footage c. Or, as the Court hinted, getting the issuing magistrate to issue a warrant that permits a news crew. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2006, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-suspects-on-cops-ever-mention-the-cameras/360625/44 "2006-06-15T13:07:59Z")
[QUOTE=threemae] I recall one of the producers of COPS being on NPR a while ago. [/QUOTE] I heard a similar (or the same?) interview, but this one was with a consent specialist. Those are the folks who follow the crew around and get written consent from the people in the videos. That person (I seem to recall a female voice) described one guy, who really made an ass of himself on the video. He was willing to sign the consent as long as they included footage of him playing his guitar. They struck a deal. I remember the episode, too. He was really terrible. ---
**Author:** ![Jombi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f19dbf/32.png) [@Jombi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jombi)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2006, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-suspects-on-cops-ever-mention-the-cameras/360625/45 "2006-06-15T15:23:14Z")
[QUOTE=Bear\_Nenno] As far as I know, all the episodes where the cameraman entered the residence are older episodes. The issue has been pressed, and the cameras are no longer allowed into the homes. [/QUOTE] Now that I think about it, you might be right. And it could explain why COPS isn’t as entertaining as it used to be. I’ve noticed lately that most of the episodes are about prostitution stings in public places, petty drug busts in public places, and uninteresting traffic stops in public places. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2006, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-suspects-on-cops-ever-mention-the-cameras/360625/46 "2006-06-15T15:39:26Z")
[QUOTE=Jombi] Now that I think about it, you might be right. And it could explain why COPS isn’t as entertaining as it used to be. I’ve noticed lately that most of the episodes are about prostitution stings in public places, petty drug busts in public places, and uninteresting traffic stops in public places. [/QUOTE] This purports to be a complete list of all Cops episodes: [Yahoo | Mail, Weather, Search, Politics, News, Finance, Sports & Videos](http://www.geocities.com/videogamelists/cops.html) ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2006, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-suspects-on-cops-ever-mention-the-cameras/360625/47 "2006-06-15T16:14:13Z")
[QUOTE=Lissa] It’s one of the favorite television programs in the prison where my husband works. [/QUOTE] Ahhhh, but who do the inmates root for?😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-suspects-on-cops-ever-mention-the-cameras/360625.md?page=2)