TruTV is an American basic cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). The channel primarily broadcasts comedy, docusoaps, and reality shows.
Forensic Files, originally known as Medical Detectives, is an American documentary television program that reveals how forensic science is used to solve violent crimes, mysterious accidents, and outbreaks of illness. The show was originally broadcast on TLC, narrated by Peter Thomas, and produced by Medstar Television, distributed by FilmRise, in association with truTV Original Productions. It broadcast 406 episodes from its debut on TLC in 1996 until its final episode in 2011. Reruns shown on HLN were initially retitled Mystery Detectives before settling on the main title of the show in 2014.
John Russell Langley was an American television and film director, writer, and producer who was best known as the creator and executive producer of the television show Cops, which premiered on Fox in March 1989.
Road Wars is a British police reality television programme created by Raw Cut TV for British Sky Broadcasting and broadcast on Sky1 from 2003 to 2010. From Series 1 the show was narrated by actor Lee Boardman. The 2nd half of series 7 was narrated by actress Claire Goose.
Cops is an American reality legal television documentary programming series that is currently in its 35th 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/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 or incidental music/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.
A false confession is an admission of guilt for a crime which the individual did not commit. Although such confessions seem counterintuitive, they can be made voluntarily, perhaps to protect a third party, or induced through coercive interrogation techniques. When some degree of coercion is involved, studies have found that subjects with highly sophisticated intelligence or manipulated by their so-called "friends" are more likely to make such confessions. Young people are particularly vulnerable to confessing, especially when stressed, tired, or traumatized, and have a significantly higher rate of false confessions than adults. Hundreds of innocent people have been convicted, imprisoned, and sometimes sentenced to death after confessing to crimes they did not commit—but years later, have been exonerated. It was not until several shocking false confession cases were publicized in the late 1980s, combined with the introduction of DNA evidence, that the extent of wrongful convictions began to emerge—and how often false confessions played a role in these.
A perp walk, walking the perp, or frog march, is a practice in law enforcement of taking an arrested suspect, usually right after arrest, out in public, usually from the police station to the vehicle to the courthouse and then after the court hearing back to the vehicle, creating an opportunity for a media frenzy to take photographs and video of the event. The defendant is typically handcuffed or otherwise restrained, and is sometimes dressed in prison garb. Within the United States the perp walk is most closely associated with New York City. The practice rose in popularity in the 1980s under U.S. Attorney Rudolph Giuliani, when suspects charged with felonies were perp-walked.
Police Camera Action! is a police video programme made by Optomen Television, originally broadcast on ITV with repeats airing on ITV4. It was originally commissioned through Carlton Television.
Police Stop! is a British television documentary series, narrated and presented by Graham Cole, best known for his role as PC Tony Stamp in the Thames Television drama series The Bill, that was first developed in 1993 as a Direct-to-video series by creator Bill Rudgard. The series compiles footage filmed on cameras mounted in police cars and helicopters, with occasional material from road-side or hand-held cameras, with each episode focusing on a different type of road related crime, such as speeding, driving without due care and attention or dangerous overtaking, or in more extreme cases, hazards relating to weather conditions or car chases involving wanted criminals.
Maury Troy Travis was an American serial killer. Travis was named in a federal criminal complaint for the murders of two women. At the time of the murders, he was a hotel waiter, and on parole for a 1989 robbery. While Travis claimed in a letter to have murdered 17 women, some authorities were doubtful; others thought he may have murdered up to 20 women. He died by suicide by hanging in custody in St. Louis County, Missouri, after being arrested for murder.
Most Shocking is an American reality television series produced by Nash Entertainment and truTV Original Productions. A spin-off series entitled Top 20 Countdown: Most Shocking aired from 2006 to 2012.
Beach Patrol is a half-hour television series airing on truTV. The show features lifeguards and police working together to apprehend criminals and save lives.
Jail is an American reality television series that follows suspected criminals from booking through incarceration. The series was created and produced by John Langley and his son, Morgan Langley, through their Langley television and film Productions company. They also produce Cops.
The Police Tapes is a 1977 documentary about a New York City police precinct in the South Bronx. The original ran ninety minutes and was produced for public television; a one-hour version later aired on ABC.
Police accountability involves holding both individual police officers, as well as law enforcement agencies responsible for effectively delivering basic services of crime control and maintaining order, while treating individuals fairly and within the bounds of law. Police are expected to uphold laws, regarding due process, search and seizure, arrests, discrimination, as well as other laws relating to equal employment, sexual harassment, etc. Holding police accountable is important for maintaining the public's "faith in the system". Research has shown that the public prefers independent review of complaints against law enforcement, rather than relying on police departments to conduct internal investigations. There is a suggestion that such oversight would improve the public's view on the way in which police officers are held accountable.
To Catch a Predator is an American reality television series in the television news magazine program Dateline NBC featuring confrontations with host Chris Hansen, partly filmed with a hidden camera, of adult men arriving at a sting house to have sex with a minor and typically being arrested as a result. The minors are adults impersonating underage persons in online chats.
Bait Car is an American television series that aired on the truTV network. The show depicted police officers targeting criminals with a high-tech bait car, rigged with hidden cameras and radio trackers. Footage is shown from in-car cameras, police car dashcams, and film crews with the police officers. The show holds a TV-14 rating due to strong language, although most of the profanity is censored.
Leon Gary Plauché was an American man known for publicly killing Jeff Doucet, a child molester who had kidnapped and raped Plauché's son, Jody. The killing occurred on March 16, 1984 and was captured on camera by a local news crew. Plauché was given a seven-year suspended sentence with five years' probation and 300 hours of community service, receiving no prison time. The case received wide publicity because some people questioned whether Plauché should have been charged with murder. Plauché contended that he was in the right, and that any parent in a similar position would have taken the same action.
On January 18, 2016, Daniel Leetin Shaver of Granbury, Texas, was fatally shot by police officer Philip Brailsford in the hallway of a La Quinta Inn & Suites hotel in Mesa, Arizona. Police were responding to a report that a rifle had been pointed out of the window of Shaver's hotel room.
Anatomy of Crime is an American television series that aired on the Court TV network. The show first aired on January 17, 2000, and ran for two seasons, ending on March 5, 2002, with a total of twenty-six episodes, thirteen per season. The show was a series of one-hour documentaries that took viewers onto the streets and behind the scenes of crime. The series included footage from the police and the courts, covering everything from high-speed police chases and sting operations to sex trafficking and the impact of the media’s coverage. Each episode showcased a particular aspect of crime, and the issues and controversies surrounding it, including the perspectives of the country's foremost sociologists, psychologists and representatives of leading organizations in each area.
