Posted on 07/19/2011 8:54:48 PM PDT by TheDingoAteMyBaby
The reality TV show "Police Women of Broward County" is under fire again.
Broward Public Defender Howard Finkelstein wants to know if there is any sort of incentive pay or benefits given to deputies who appear on TLC's Thursday night cable program that may taint testimony against his clients.
He's demanding that the state attorney and county sheriff reveal the officers' confidential contracts.
Spokesmen for the sheriff and state attorney say they don't have the contracts. The state attorney's office and the TV show's lawyer both say a judge should review the legal agreements for any possible conflict.
"This is about a witness's motive, not trade secrets," Finkelstein said about his efforts to reveal salaries and other rewards for the programs' stars, Broward Sheriff's deputies Andrea Penoyer, Julie Bower, Shelunda Cooper and Erika Huerta.
Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti said the officers' TV roles do not conflict with enforcing the law.
"The fact that they are on television does not negate the probable cause the deputies had to make the arrests," Lamberti said.
A spokeswoman for TLC/Discovery Communications had no comment.
The show has drawn complaints during the past two seasons.
After the 2009 season ended, Pompano Beach officials said they did not want the TV production there again and denied permit applications. Producers continued to film in the city, though, and a former community activist was arrested in April during a prostitution sting that was recorded for the program.
(Excerpt) Read more at sun-sentinel.com ...
“Howard Fiknkelstein?”
Is that really his name???
OK, OK... so I misspelled “Finkelstein”
It’s because I was laughing so hard.
COPS has been running since 1989 (over 22 years!) and covering hundreds of police and sheriff forces.
There hasn’t been an issue about “extra compensation.”
This is just a publicity seeker wanting the camera on him...
Yep and it started out under Then commie/Cuban Broward Sheriff Nick Navarro.
I can remember when Howard Finkelstein was not The Chief public defender.
He was known as the radical (but most sought after indigent attorney) in the Public Defenders office with the ponytail!
If you were lucky enough to get him on your case .. You were almost assured of walking!
All four “Police Women of Broward County” have the typical attitude of LEO’s ... They are better than you or me.
The pretty blonde is the one I can’t tolerate the most .. What a loud obnoxious, ignorant you know what.
I’ll take Cops any day of the week over this crap of a television program.
<>>Yep and it started out under Then commie/Cuban Broward Sheriff Nick Navarro.<<
Hmmm... I seem to recall the first few years were all LASD — which we rarely saw again after those first few years.
Broward gave us that pretentious popinjay Bunnell. “We aren’t bringing these clips of insane drivers to you to make money! NOOO! We are bringing them to you as a PUBLIC SERVICE! So you can BE PREPARED!”
Big difference - COPS does not "feature" in staring roles any specific officer. This show does.
If they are doing nothing wrong, they should have no problem releasing the requested information. (That's the same line of thinking/reasoning they (Law Enforcement) use when attempting to search ones house and/or property without a warrant)
>>COPS does not “feature” in staring roles any specific officer.<<
I get your point — but for many years they did exactly that. A few “special” cops who were featured (see my upthread comment about Burrell) and others.
They oughta call it Dikes of Broward County.
Nope.
From wikipedia .. and me (Since I was there and one of my friends was a Broward Sheriff at the time).
“The first episode aired in 1989 and featured the Broward County, Florida, Sheriff’s Office.
The original concept of the show was to follow officers home and tape their home lives along with their work. After a while the idea of following officers home was deemed too artificial by Langley and was abandoned.”
I am not big believer of Wikipedia as a source, but for pop culture it seems to be OK.
I am sure there was a lot of LASD, but it might have been Broward as well.
I am not sure it changes what we are talking about, though.
As I said .. Nick Navarro, the commie/cuba was the #1 person that COPS was interested in since Navarro was never camera shy and for the first few years it was “Navarro and HIS Men” over and over.
I had a friend from Nam who went on to become a Broward Sheriff and who was also in the first episode.
I don’t have to rely on wikipedia.
^^^ Should have said: Commie/Cuban
I work in television. I also live in Los Angeles, and if I ever heard that the LAPD or the Sheriff department was involved in a show, I would scream my head off in protest.
Police have badges and lethal weapons. They need to have one thing on their minds: their jobs. Cameras change everything. EVE. RY. THING.
If you sign onto a TV show, you have a new boss: the producer and director. They’re paying you. How can you square this with your old bosses, your police captain and the public?
You cannot reconcile pulling down a private salary while you’re working on the public dime. It’s unconscionable.
The same is true of cops who write books and movies based on information they only had access to in the course of their jobs of public trust. Should absolutely be illegal or a fireable offense for them to participate in “deals.”
Real life cops do not belong in the entertainment business.
I like this show. If the perps don’t want their faces shown, they pixel it out. Apparently the perps must think it’s cool to be on TV, because the vast majority signed the release. And if they really don’t want to be on the program, they could...stop committing crimes. I wouldn’t want to be one of the cops on the show, though. Those women probably are getting a LOT of unwanted attention.
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