'Cops' Canceled After 32 Seasons Amid Protests Against Police Brutality

The long-running reality TV show "Cops" has been canceled amid ongoing protests denouncing police brutality following George Floyd's death in Minneapolis,

Paramount Network announced this week that the show has been dropped from its lineup, according to The Hollywood Reporter. 

"Cops is not on the Paramount Network and we don’t have any current or future plans for it to return," a spokesperson for the network said in a statement obtained by the outlet.

The move comes on the heels of Paramount's decision earlier this month to pull episodes of "Cops" — as well as A&E's "Live PD," another reality show focusing on the daily work of police officers — from their lineup amid ongoing national backlash against police, the outlet previously reported. The 33rd season of "Cops" had been scheduled to premiere in early June, but never aired.

Langley Productions, the company that produces "Cops," has not commented on whether they intend to try and find a new network home for the series, ABC News reported. The show, which premiered in 1989, follows police officers around the country as they patrol their jurisdictions and take people into custody.

However, the show has faced criticism over the years for violating the privacy of people who were arrested on-air and for being a biased representation of police work.

Paramount's decision to cancel "Cops" comes as people around the country, and the globe, continue to protest the death of Floyd, a black man who was killed last month after white Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes. Chauvin has been charged with second-degree murder and has been fired from the police department.

As a show of support for those protesting Floyd's killing, Paramount Network went off the air for eight minutes and 46 seconds earlier this month — the same amount of time that Chauvin had Floyd pinned in a fatal position.

"Cops" was aired for decades on Fox Network following its premiere there, until it made the switch to Spike TV in 2013, which remained its network home after Spike relaunched as Paramount Network in 2018.