The show was heavily criticised over the years for racial profiling.
Also, yes, the show was still on the air all this time and you just didn't realise.
Anyway, the long-running reality TV show 'Cops' has been cancelled after widespread criticism lead the Paramount Network to axe it from their schedule. The show, which began in 1989, ran for 25 seasons on Fox, before it was cancelled there and picked up by Spike TV, the precursor to the Paramount Network.
While it might seem like 'Cops' became a controversial show in light of the police killing of George Floyd and Breona Taylor and subsequent protests, there's been issues with 'Cops' for decades. Numerous studies throughout the '90s found that viewers tended to associate black and brown people with arrests for violent crimes on 'Cops' than white people.
In a statement provided to media, civil rights advocacy group Color of Change said that for three decades, the reality TV series "has miseducated the public and normalized injustice."
"Crime television encourages the public to accept the norms of over-policing and excessive force and reject reform, while supporting the exact behavior that destroys the lives of Black people. 'Cops' led the way, pushing troubling implications for generations of viewers. Now it’s time for other networks to cancel similarly harmful shows."
The group is also calling for 'Live PD', the show's successor, to also be cancelled from A&E.