LAPD: Life on the Beat

Last updated
LAPD: Life on the Beat
LAPD-lifeonthebeat.jpg
Genre Reality
Narrated byAndrew Geller (1995–1996)
Hank Brandt (1996–1999)
ComposerScooter Pietsch
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons4
No. of episodes576
Production
Executive producersDave Bell
Dennis Bogorad
Running time30 minutes
Production companiesQRZ Media
MGM/UA Telecommunications Group
(1995–1997)
(seasons 1–2)
MGM Telecommunications Group
(1997)
(season 2)
MGM Domestic Television Distribution
(1997–1999)
(seasons 3–4)
Original release
Network Syndication
ReleaseSeptember 11, 1995 (1995-09-11) –
September 10, 1999 (1999-09-10)

LAPD: Life on the Beat (sometimes referred to individually as LAPD or Life on the Beat) is an American reality television series that follows officers of the Los Angeles Police Department, as they respond to various incidents within their precincts' jurisdiction. [1] The program aired in first-run syndication from September 11, 1995, to September 10, 1999. Like its contemporary, COPS , LAPD follows police officers on patrol and during investigations. Unlike COPS, Life on the Beat only features police officers from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). The series was originally titled as simply LAPD for its first season in 1995, before adopting the expanded title in 1996, in conjunction with the introduction of an upgraded graphical look.

Contents

A typical episode featured four segments, a cold case story and usually a quiz relating to police statistics. Unlike COPS, Life on the Beat features incidental music and a narrator. At the time of the series, the LAPD still had only 18 stations, so camera crews would cover as many stations as possible and had episodes featuring multiple areas of Los Angeles. Episodes featured routine patrol, vice units, gang units, and even SWAT calls. Many segments also feature the Air Support Division. For a large amount of patrol-based segments, cameras flip back and forth between ground and aerial angles.

Officers in the series

Throughout the series a large number of officers are seen repeatedly. Officers appearing on LAPD could also be found on TLC's Hollywood COPS and Discovery's On the Inside that featured mostly Pacific division. Four officers made a huge impact on the show and were seen over and over again; they were officers Jeff Alley, Derek O'Donnell and brothers Tim and Sean Colomey who all worked in South LA patrol divisions. These officers can also be seen on an MSNBC special report that focused on problems in South Central Los Angeles.

Officer Jeff Alley played a huge role in making sure that the TV crews always had a deeper understanding of what was really going on. He took the opportunity to educate those in TV land about police work with pros and cons of situations and allowed those with an interest in law enforcement to have a better understanding about the job.

In a couple episodes, Life on the Beat filmed with Hollywood Division Officers J.C. Flores and Jeri Snell, the two were assigned to the Domestic Violence Unit, Both Flores and Snell could also be seen on TLC's Hollywood COPS working the same detail. Hollywood patrol officers Ray Camuy and Joel Sydanmaa were also featured in several episodes of both Life on the Beat and Hollywood COPS.

On TLC's Women in Blue, Officer Monica Lobato is working CRASH in the Newton area. She can also be seen on an early episode of Life on the Beat working patrol in Newton.

Throughout the series, SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) is seen responding emergency calls and while raiding narcotics locations. From barricaded suspects to the North Hollywood shootout SWAT segments were seen throughout the show, one particular SWAT officer was Randal Simmons. He can be seen in episodes filmed from 1996 to 1998 on different call-ups. He was killed in February 2008 during a standoff in Winnetka and was LAPD's first SWAT fatality in 40 years of operation. Four days after the death of Officer Simmons, FOX Reality re-aired an episode featuring him and his SWAT unit. The network at the time was playing as many as three Life on the Beat re-runs per day. At the beginning and end of this particular episode, Fox decided to pay tribute with an End of Watch memorial graphic with Simmons's photograph.

Despite having many camera operators through the city and with access to SWAT, Air Support and other special details, Life on the Beat was not on scene with officers for both the North Hollywood Shootout and the North Valley Jewish Community Center shooting. In both cases, in the weeks and months leading up to these events Life on the Beat was filming with the same officers assigned to the same areas and shifts as those who would later respond to these events.

For the North Hollywood incident, special segments were filmed with exclusive interviews with those involved at the scene including all SWAT members, SWAT Officer Pete Weireter, who led efforts in rescuing downed officers and civilians, SWAT officer Don Anderson who led a team of three SWAT officers, including himself, Steve Gomez and Rich Massa, who together intercepted the gunman in the middle of a residential street by performing a vehicle assault takedown, killing him and ending the incident.

Traffic Officer Conrad Torrez is featured regarding his actions in engaging the first gunman with gunfire. He is the officer believed to have killed the first suspect while that suspect was believed to have also been trying to kill himself after his gun jammed. Other interviews were conducted with Sergeant Dean Haynes and others such as Tracy Angeles and James Zboravan. Officer Zboravan was filmed in the months leading up to the shootout working North Hollywood patrol as a probationary with only a couple months on the job from the academy.

Withdrawal of the LAPD

Ultimately, after 576 episodes over a four-year run LAPD: Life on the Beat was not renewed by MGM for a fifth season.

Similar programs

A couple years after Life on the Beat went off air, TLC aired a special about females in law enforcement titled Women In Blue. The show featured a female detective from Narcotics Division and two female officers in the Newton Division assigned to the anti-gang unit known as CRASH. Filmings were done in the summer of 2001.

In 1998–1999 TLC rode along with LAPD's Hollywood Division for several months, gathering footage for a mini-series titled "Hollywood COPS". The series was filmed for the BBC and originally aired in Europe, but it eventually aired in the United States. The series focused on Hollywood Division's Homicide Unit, narcotics officers Bob Deemer and Blair Grabiak, and patrol officers Ray Camuy and Joel Sydanmaa.

Episode status

The series was later shown in reruns in the United States on cable television channels TNT from 2003 until 2004 and Fox Reality Channel from 2005 until 2010, and the digital multicast television networks Escape (now known as Ion Mystery) from 2015 until 2019, and Charge! from 2017 until 2018. [2] [3] [4] [5]

From 2011 until 2016, the show was available for streaming online on Hulu. [6]

Home media releases

In 1998, two videotapes of the series was released on VHS: Hottest Police Chases Live on Tape, focuses on the police chases from the show and War on the Streets: The North Hollywood Shootout focuses on the North Hollywood shootout. [7] [8]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Dragnet</i> (franchise) Radio, television, and film series, mostly about LAPD detective Joe Friday

Dragnet is an American media franchise created by actor and producer Jack Webb, following Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Detective Joe Friday and his partners as they conduct by-the-book police work and solve crimes in Los Angeles. Originating as a radio drama on NBC in 1949, Dragnet has been adapted into several successful television shows and films, though the franchise's popularity has reduced since Webb's death in 1982. Its name is derived from the police term "dragnet", a system of coordinated measures for apprehending criminals or suspects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SWAT</span> American law enforcement unit

In the United States, a SWAT team is a generic term for a police tactical unit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Los Angeles Police Department</span> Primary law enforcement agency of Los Angeles, California, United States

The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), officially known as the City of Los Angeles Police Department, is the primary law enforcement agency of Los Angeles, California, United States. With 8,832 officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the third-largest municipal police department in the United States, after the New York City Police Department and the Chicago Police Department.

The police procedural, police show, or police crime drama is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasises the investigative procedure of police officers, police detectives, or law enforcement agencies as the protagonists, as contrasted with other genres that focus on non-police investigators such as private investigators.

<i>Adam-12</i> American police procedural television series, 1968–1975

Adam-12 is an American police procedural crime drama television series created by Robert A. Cinader and Jack Webb and produced by Mark VII Limited and Universal Television. The series follows Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers Pete Malloy and Jim Reed as they patrol Los Angeles in their police cruiser, assigned the call sign "1-Adam-12". Adam-12 stars Martin Milner and Kent McCord, with several recurring co-stars, the most frequent being William Boyett and Gary Crosby. The series ran over seven seasons from September 21, 1968, until May 20, 1975.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Wambaugh</span> American writer, former policeman (born 1937)

Joseph Aloysius Wambaugh Jr. is an American writer known for his fictional and nonfictional accounts of police work in the United States. Many of his novels are set in Los Angeles and its surroundings and feature Los Angeles police officers as protagonists. He won three Edgar Awards, and was named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America.

<i>S.W.A.T.</i> (2003 film) 2003 film directed by Clark Johnson

S.W.A.T. is a 2003 American action crime thriller film based on the 1975 television series of the same name. Written by David Ayer and David McKenna, with the story credited to Ron Mita and Jim McClain, directed by Clark Johnson and produced by Neal H. Moritz, the film stars Samuel L. Jackson, Colin Farrell, Michelle Rodriguez, LL Cool J, Josh Charles, Jeremy Renner, Brian Van Holt and Olivier Martinez.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daryl Gates</span> American former police chief in Los Angeles (1926–2010)

Daryl Francis Gates was an American police officer who served as chief of the Los Angeles Police Department from 1978 to 1992. His length of tenure in this position was second only to that of William H. Parker. Gates is credited with the creation of SWAT teams alongside fellow Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officer John Nelson, who others claim was the originator of SWAT in 1965. Gates also co-founded the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Hollywood shootout</span> 1997 bank robbery and subsequent shootout between bank robbers and police

The North Hollywood shootout, also known as the Battle of North Hollywood, was a confrontation between two heavily armed and armored bank robbers, Larry Phillips Jr. and Emil Mătăsăreanu, and police officers in the North Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles on February 28, 1997. Both robbers were killed, twelve police officers and eight civilians were injured, and numerous vehicles and other property were damaged or destroyed by the nearly 2,000 rounds of ammunition fired by the robbers and police.

The Rampart Division of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) serves communities to the west of Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) including Silver Lake, Echo Park, Pico-Union and Westlake, all together designated as the Rampart patrol area. Its name is derived from Rampart Boulevard, one of the principal thoroughfares in its patrol area. The original station opened in 1966, located at 2710 West Temple Street. In 2008, the staff moved southeast to a newer facility located at 1401 West 6th Street. With 164,961 residents occupying a 5.4-square-mile (14 km2) area, Rampart is one of Los Angeles's most densely populated communities.

Cops is an American reality legal television documentary programming series that is currently in its 36th season. It is produced by Langley Productions and premiered on the Fox network on March 11, 1989. The series, known for chronicling the lives of law enforcement officials, follows police officers and sheriff's deputies, sometimes backed up by state police or other state agencies, during patrol, calls for service, and other police activities including prostitution and narcotic stings, and occasionally the serving of search and arrest warrants at criminal residences. Some episodes have also featured federal agencies. The show's formula follows the cinéma vérité convention, which does not consist of any narration, scripted dialogue, incidental music or added sound effects, depending entirely on the commentary of the officers and on the actions of the people with whom they come into contact, giving the audience a fly on the wall point of view. Each episode typically consists of three self-contained segments which often end with one or more arrests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stacey Koon</span> American criminal and former police officer (born 1950)

Stacey Cornell Koon is an American former policeman with the Los Angeles Police Department. He is one of the four policemen who were responsible for beating Rodney King in March 1991. He was sentenced to 2+1⁄2 years in federal prison in 1993 for his role in the beating.

The Jungles faction of the Black P. Stones street gang is a "set" of the Bloods gang alliance in Los Angeles. Originating in Los Angeles' Baldwin Village neighborhood in the 1960s, the Black P. Stones became one of the largest gangs in the city. The gang has been linked to various crimes, including murders, assaults, robberies, narcotics violations and firearms violations, and has been the subject of numerous FBI and LAPD investigations.

<i>44 Minutes: The North Hollywood Shoot-Out</i> 2003 American crime action film

44 Minutes: The North Hollywood Shoot-Out is a 2003 American crime action docudrama television film directed by Yves Simoneau and written by Tim Metcalfe. The film stars Michael Madsen, Ron Livingston, Mario Van Peebles, Andrew Bryniarski, and Oleg Taktarov. It is a semi-fictional dramatization of the 1997 North Hollywood shootout, and follows the perspectives of bank robbers Larry Eugene Phillips Jr. and Emil Mătăsăreanu, as well as various Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers involved in the shootout.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Los Angeles Police Department resources</span> Resources and systems used by the Los Angeles Police Department

The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), the primary law enforcement agency of Los Angeles, California, United States, maintains and uses a variety of resources that allow its officers to effectively perform their duties. The LAPD's organization is complex with the department divided into bureaus and offices that oversee functions and manage specialized units. The LAPD's resources include the department's divisions, transportation, communications, and technology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Los Angeles Police Department</span>

The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) was formed in 1869, and has since become the third-largest law enforcement agency in the United States. They have been involved in various events in history, such as the Black Dahlia murder, the Watts riots, the 1992 Los Angeles riots, the North Hollywood shootout, the murder trial of O. J. Simpson, and the Rampart scandal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LAPD Metropolitan Division</span> Division of the Los Angeles Police Department

Metropolitan Division, commonly referred to as Metro Division or just Metro, is an elite division of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) under its Special Operations Group. Metropolitan Division is responsible for managing the LAPD's specialized crime suppression, K-9, mounted, and SWAT units, named "platoons".

<i>S.W.A.T.</i> (1975 TV series) American television series (1975–1976)

S.W.A.T. is an American police procedural action crime drama television series created by Robert Hamner, developed by Rick Husky, and produced by Hamner, Aaron Spelling, and Leonard Goldberg under Spelling-Goldberg Productions. The series aired for two seasons on ABC from February 1975 to April 1976. A spin-off of The Rookies, developed from a two-part pilot aired on February 17, 1975, S.W.A.T. follows a police Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team operating in an unnamed Californian city. The series stars Steve Forrest, Robert Urich, Rod Perry, Mark Shera, and James Coleman as the titular team's officers.

S.W.A.T. is an American police procedural action drama television series, based on the 1975 television series and the 2003 film adaptation of the same name. Aaron Rahsaan Thomas and Shawn Ryan developed the new series, which premiered on CBS on November 2, 2017, and is produced by Original Film, CBS Studios and Sony Pictures Television. In April 2022, the series was renewed for a sixth season which premiered on October 7, 2022. In May 2023, the series was canceled after six seasons at CBS, only to be renewed for a seventh and final season at CBS a few days later. The seventh season premiered on February 16, 2024. In April 2024, the final season decision was reversed and the show was renewed for an eighth season. The eighth season premiered on October 18, 2024.

References

  1. ↑ "'LAPD' Gives Some Polish to Those Badges". Los Angeles Times . September 4, 1995. Retrieved June 19, 2022.
  2. ↑ "LAPD: Life on the Beat End Credits (TNT 2004)". YouTube. Retrieved June 19, 2022.
  3. ↑ "LAPD: Life on the Beat". Fox Reality Channel. Archived from the original on December 16, 2008. Retrieved June 19, 2022.
  4. ↑ "LAPD: Life On The Beat". Escape. Archived from the original on March 10, 2016. Retrieved June 19, 2022.
  5. ↑ "Schedule". Charge!. Archived from the original on July 26, 2017. Retrieved June 19, 2022.
  6. ↑ "LAPD: Life On The Beat". Hulu. Archived from the original on February 9, 2011. Retrieved June 19, 2022.
  7. ↑ Hottest Police Chases Live on Tape (Videotape). MGM Home Entertainment. 1998. Retrieved June 19, 2022.
  8. ↑ "War on the Streets: The North Hollywood Shootout" (Videotape). MGM Home Entertainment. 1998. Retrieved June 19, 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.