FOX Broadcasting Cancels ‘Cops’ After 25 Years

The show is moving to SpikeTV.

By Jamilah King May 06, 2013

After months of pressure, senior executives at FOX Broadcasting have decided not to renew the show "Cops" for another season. Critics of the long-running police reality TV show claimed that it pedels in misrepresentations and caricatures of black and Latino communities. The show will instead move to a niche network, SpikeTV. "We have been working tirelessly to push this damaging reality TV series off primetime network television, and today we applaud FOX for dropping this toxic show from its lineup," said ColorOfChange.org Executive Director, Rashad Robinson. Last week, the online civil rights organization sponsored ads in AdvertisingAge and Daily Variety denouncing the show’s racially-charged content. The ads came after the group [circulated an online petition](http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/cops/?ak_proof=1&akid=.1542785.gug5rk&rd=1&t=3) against the show. "Out of primetime, COPS no longer has a mainstream platform and will have a significantly smaller audience. Research shows that exploiting persistent dehumanizing stereotypes that marginalize Black Americans have real-world consequences, and there is much more work to be done to bring about a significant cultural shift in the ways we are portrayed in the media," Robinson said in a statement to the press.