Whilst the first series of Dan Taberski’s “Headlong” series felt a little too invasive for my liking, the second was more based around events rather than people and I enjoyed it more. However, when the third season moved into reality television, it could have gone either way, so I turned to “Headlong: Running From COPS” with a little trepidation.
The title is stylised in that way, as it’s based around the American reality television show “COPS”, which follows police across the country as they go about their work. The show has been running for thirty years, but has been more under the spotlight in recent years as Black Lives Matter and police brutality have come to the fore. Does “COPS” show the police doing their jobs, or is it not as close to reality as the phrase claims?
For the podcast, Dan Taberski looks into the history and practice of the “COPS” show, from when it started to now. He speaks to people who have been featured on the show, both as police and as criminals and also to those who want the show to be taken off air, because it acts more as a distraction from proper police work and the issues really affecting the people in the cities it features. I recall a friend of mine in local Police in England saying their bosses had refused permission for a show to film in our area and their feelings seem to have been shared by some in American law enforcement.
The series was presented over 6 episodes, with a couple of bonus episodes added on, which were published weekly between April and May of 2019. Each episode ran between 35 and 45 minutes, giving a total running time of around 4 hours, which is typical of the earlier series of the podcast. Whilst this seemed too long for an overly simple first series, but about right for the second, it felt too short here, as there was a lot more to be said.
There are multiple issues which were raised over the course of the podcast, both in terms of police conduct and whether it shows people doing their jobs, to questions over whether the people featured had adequately signed release forms. There is a suspicion that at least one of the people arrested and featured had evidence planted on them by an officer who might have been a touch keen to be on the show and that other behaviours might be skewed away from normal averages under the supposedly watchful eye of the camera, particularly as the producers of the show would prefer better entertainment than better law enforcement, as that’s where they make their living.
All of these things are fascinating prospects, but very few of them are looked at in depth and “”Headlong: Running From COPS” asks a lot of questions, but doesn’t have the time to produce any of the answers. As someone observes, Taberski does seem to be more interested in digging up dirt than he is on running a balanced piece and the way he asks a lot of difficult questions, but doesn’t look deep enough to provide considered answers, does suggest there is an element of bias in the whole thing.
I wanted this season of “Headlong” to be much better than it was, as in terms of the questions it asked, it was the best so far, but in terms of any answers, it was desperately lacking. There was a lack of balance and insufficient due diligence and investigation into the issues, which seems somehow appropriate, as these are two of the things the podcast accuses the show of. Much like the show it covered, the podcast was made more for entertainment than for investigation, and was the weaker for it.
sohoblack 