Detroit mayor bans reality TV crews after girl’s death

Detroit’s mayor has banned reality TV crews from following its police after a crew filmed a raid that killed a child. Mayor Dave Bing’s spokesperson Karen Dumas told the Detroit News that having them there “gives the wrong appearance … We don’t want to convolute the process.” However, she said local media will be able to ride along with cops, but “We’ll assess that on a case-by-case basis.”

Bing criticized police chief Warren Evans who renewed a contract with the A&E series The First 48, and said, “(Evans) said he signed an … extension of what was already there. He said he didn’t pay much attention to it — but the fact of the matter is, his handwriting is on the agreement.”

The paper also reports that “Bing also said he was concerned when he saw a six-minute promotional trailer for a proposed reality TV show, tentatively named ‘The Chief’” that “reportedly shows Evans posing in front of the Michigan Central Depot station, holding a semi-automatic rifle and vowing to rid the city of crime.”

Bing said, “We saw it and we said: ‘Hell no — don’t make that public. You’ve got to cancel that; that’s not going to happen.’ But the teaser thing was already out, so it’s public knowledge. And it’s not positive in my opinion.”