A&E Cancels ‘Live PD’

A&E announced Wednesday that it has canceled Live PD, the popular real-time documentary series that showcased police solving crime across America.

“This is a critical time in our nation’s history and we have made the decision to cease production on Live PD,” A&E said in a statement. “Going forward, we will determine if there is a clear pathway to tell the stories of both the community and the police officers whose role it is to serve them. And with that, we will be meeting with community and civil rights leaders as well as police departments.”

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A&E’s decision to nix the network’s highest rated show, which debuted in 2016, comes just one day after Paramount Networks canceled the long-running reality police series Cops. Live PD host Dan Abrams said on Tuesday that the show was in no danger of being pulled off the air. But on Wednesday, Abrams said he was “shocked” by A&E’s decision to pull the police program.

“Shocked & beyond disappointed about this. To the loyal #LivePDNation please know I, we, did everything we could to fight for you, and for our continuing effort at transparency in policing. I was convinced the show would go on,” said Abrams, who hosted the show, which aired on Friday and Saturday nights from 9 PM-12 AM.

“Ultimately, both the network and the production company on Wednesday came to the conclusion that there was currently no path forward for the show in its current form,” according to Deadline, which broke the story, noting that the show’s cancellation was fueled by ongoing protests across the country in response to the police-involved death of Minneapolis man George Floyd.

The move from A&E also comes as reports continue to surface that a Live PD film crew recorded the death of Javier Ambler, who died in police custody in Texas. The incident occurred in March 2019 and the footage has since been destroyed, Live PD representatives said. Dashcam footage from Williamson County deputies who chased Ambler for 20 minutes before he was apprehended has not been released.