The genre of reality TV went on trial this week when a camera crew in Detroit for the popular A&E cop show “The First 48” witnessed a house raid Sunday that resulted in the shooting death of a 7-year-old girl, the Washington Post reports. The family’s lawyer says he’s seen footage that contradicts the police account of what happened, and family members and attorneys in Detroit have suggested that the cops may have been playing to the camera crew during the fatal raid.
The incident occurred exactly one month after the Jefferson Parish, La., sheriff’s department shut down production on another A&E cop reality series, “Steven Seagal: Lawman,” after a lawsuit was filed against the action movie actor, now making himself over as a Jefferson Parish sheriff’s reserve deputy. A 23-year-old woman sued Seagal for $1 million, claiming he hired her as an executive assistant, flew her to Louisiana while he was making the reality series, allegedly kept her at a house in Lafitte, La., with two other women, and allegedly had sex with each. In the Detroit case, the show’s producers have turned over footage to police, a source told the Post. In the show’s long run, it’s not the first time the producers have been asked to share their images, the source said.