As Detroit Stars in TV Cop Shows, Officials Worry about City's Image

The Detroit Free Press

From reality TV shows to a new, fictional ABC crime drama, Detroit is getting the Hollywood treatment lately -- but not everyone is enjoying the spotlight.

Mayor Dave Bing already ended the Detroit Police Department's two-year relationship with A&E's "First 48" -- a reality show highlighting the first hours of homicide investigations. Last week, he said he was stunned when he saw a teaser featuring then-Police Chief Warren Evans promoting a proposed reality TV series, "The Chief."

But it isn't just reality shows that are raising eyebrows. City officials plan to meet Tuesday about the ABC-TV fall show "Detroit 1-8-7," a fictional series focusing on homicide detectives in the city.

"Folks in Detroit certainly have reason to be concerned," said Ryan O'Doherty, a spokesman for Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.

Baltimore and its police department served as backdrop for the acclaimed HBO series "The Wire." The last episode of the five-year series aired in 2008. But O'Doherty said the city still is battling some negative perceptions it helped create.

"There's no question that 'The Wire' has created negative perceptions about the city of Baltimore that are unfortunate," O'Doherty told the Free Press.

Bing said Evans' decision to participate in "The Chief" promo was among the reasons why he insisted that Evans resign last week.

"I was upset because, No. 1, I was blindsided by it," Bing said. "I knew nothing about it. And I didn't want our city depicted like that."

The footage showed the chief holding an assault rifle and declaring he would do whatever it takes to clean the city's streets. Evans hasn't been available for comment since he resigned, but previously has said that transparency was his goal in allowing news media access.

Ralph Godbee, appointed by Bing as Detroit's interim police chief, said a national, police-focused think tank soon will help evaluate departmental policies and procedures, including whether participation in such TV projects is wise.

A&E has followed detectives in 16 cities, including Birmingham, Ala., for "First 48," according to the cable network's Web site.

Johnny Williams, a sergeant with the Birmingham Police Department, said public response has been overwhelmingly positive to the show.

"It's highlighting how hard our detectives work and what they have to go through to solve cases," Williams said.

Critics of Detroit's participation have said that officers may be showboating for the cameras. They point to the use of a flash-bang grenade in some raids, including the one early May 16 that left 7-year-old Aiyana Stanley-Jones dead from a police officer's bullet.

After that incident, Bing nixed the A&E tagalongs.

Williams said showboating isn't a problem in his department.

"Our chief wouldn't tolerate it, and our detectives know that," he said.

Bing said he isn't trying to sugarcoat Detroit's troubles by nixing reality TV crime shows. "I know we have problems," he said. "Crime is a major issue here. But I don't want to promote that."

ABC Drama 'Detroit 1-8-7' to be Filmed in Michigan

Detroit Free Press

ABC’s new fall drama “Detroit 1-8-7” is not just using the city’s name. The entire series is going to be filmed here, producers say.

Today, the show’s creators and its writing team were wrapping up a visit and clarified that the character-driven crime series, based around the lives of a Detroit homicide unit, will be fully produced here, the first-ever network series to be shot completely in Detroit.

Shot during the winter, the show's pilot was filmed in Atlanta. There were previous news reports stating that the entire series would be filmed there or Los Angeles, but Atlanta was never a consideration, producers said.

“We want people to fall in love with this show and its characters and come back and visit Detroit every week,” executive producer and creator Jason Richman says, adding that there have been some misrepresentative reports since ABC announced it greenlit the show in January. “It doesn’t serve us as storytellers to slam a place,” he says.

Executive producer and show runner David Zabel (“ER”) says a studio and stage sets for “Detroit 1-8-7” are currently being constructed in Highland Park before filming commences in mid-July. A symbiotic relationship between the show and the community is a must Zabel says, adding that ABC allocated a budget that will inject more than $25 million into the local economy through production costs for its first 12 episodes. The network plans to hire 190 full-time employees here, not including countless extras.

“Hopefully this goes and goes for a bunch of year and years, Zabel adds. “This is a crime show but we will explore various nooks and crannies in the communities and within that context there’s a lot of opportunity to see what’s positive in the city and see what’s heroic about the people fighting for what’s best for the city of Detroit.”

The series is scheduled to debut at 10 p.m. Sept. 21.