Cops | Bumper | 1991 | WZDX | Fox 54 | Huntsville Alabama

Cops | Bumper | 1991 | WZDX | Fox 54 | Huntsville Alabama

Cops (stylized as COPS) is an American half-hour documentary/reality legal series that follows police officers, constables, sheriff's deputies, federal agents, and state troopers during patrols and other police activities including prostitution and narcotics stings. It is one of the longest-running television programs in the United States and in May 2011 became the longest-running show on Fox with the announcement that America's Most Wanted was being canceled after 23 years (that show's host, John Walsh also appeared many times on Cops).[4][5] In 2013, the program moved from Fox to the cable network Spike, now known as Paramount Network.[6] Cops entered its 31st season on June 4, 2018.[7]

Cops follows the activities of police officers by assigning television camera crews to accompany them as they perform their duties. The show's formula follows the cinéma vérité convention, which does not consist of any narration or scripted dialog, depending entirely on the commentary of the officers and on the actions of the people with whom they come into contact. Each episode runs about 30 minutes long and typically consists of three self-contained segments with no narration, music, or scripts