Texas Law Bans Reality Shows from Working With Law Enforcement
If you were hoping Live PD would eventually return and return to El Paso or Austin or Houston you are in for some sad news. A new law was just passed in the state of Texas that prevents reality shows from working with law enforcement.
Live PD and Cops were both cancelled within the past year because apparently society had to suddenly hate law enforcement or anything involving law enforcement. However, this law does come from a very serious situation that happened back in 2019.
There was a live chase that was followed on Live PD that involved Javier Ambler II. He ended up being chased by Williamson County deputies when he didn't properly dim his headlights. The chase ended with the deputies using stun guns on Ambler, who ended up shouting to the officers that he had a heart condition and that he couldn't breathe. Ambler eventually died.
State Rep. James Talarico, who put forward the bill to ban law enforcement from working with reality shows, said:
Policing is not entertainment. I'm proud that Democrats and Republicans came together to pass this bill to protect our citizens and restore integrity in law enforcement.
Despite the Live PD crew being there for the full chase:
The A&E network said its video of Ambler's arrest never aired because of a policy against showing a death, and it did not keep the footage after it was informed that the initial investigation had closed, AP reported.
One of the reports that was used to pass this bill showed that the amount of violent encounters in Williamson County doubled after Live PD started filming.