Cops (television)

COPS is one of the longest-running television programs in the United States and one of the earliest reality TV genre programs. It is broadcast by the Fox Network and documents the day-to-day events of American police officers ("cops") while on-duty. It premiered on March 11, 1989 and has aired over 400 episodes.

The show is made up of footage shot by film units who follow selected police officers around while they execute their duties. The show has followed officers in 140 different cities in the United States and also has filmed in Hong Kong, London, and the former Soviet Union.

The show is well known for its theme song, "Bad Boys", by Inner Circle.

The show has been criticized for its predominant focus on the criminal activities among the poor. Critics of this aspect of the show say it unfairly presents the poor as responsible for most crime in society while ignoring the often more serious white-collar crimes that are typical of the more wealthy. One response to this is that television is primarily a visual medium, requires regular footage on a weekly basis to sustain a show, and police officers "busting in" on some office where identity theft papers are being created or other high-level crime rings are operating do not happen very often, thus it is not likely to be filmed and thus not shown. Low-level crime (by poor people) happens every day, providing large quantities of material suitable for filming.