Real-time police show Live PD has followed Pasco County law enforcement on the job for two seasons. However, the sheriff’s office’s contract with the A&E Network series ends next month.
Sheriff Chris Nocco now must decide whether he’ll renew that contract for a third season.
“We’re going to look at everything to put it in perspective. That decision will be based solely off of us — not because of a very few that are upset because we’re on Live PD,” Sheriff Nocco told ABC Action News.
Unsurprisingly, some members of the community are worried about how Live PD portrays the county. The show was even brought up during a Pasco commission meeting back in August.
“We have had calls from businesses in the county that are concerned when they’re in the background of a film of a drug deal going down. They worry it makes it look like their business is not a safe place to go,” said one commissioner.
But then a survey that included questions about Live PD was conducted at the request of the county’s tourism office, reported the Tampa Bay Times in January. The results showed that 82 percent of tourists “didn’t know or didn’t care about Pasco’s role” in the series.
According to ABC Action News, it remains unclear if Sheriff Nocco will allow his deputies — and beloved K9 Shep — to continue appearing on the show, or not.
“We really wanted to show what we’re doing and Live PD gave us that opportunity to see first hand what the deputies are going through,” he said.
