Gary Chambers Speaks Out Alone as Baton Rouge Quietly Approves Police Reality Show Deal
The 7–5 vote authorizes BRPD to partner with Half Moon Pictures LLC through May 2026, giving camera crews access to live police activity across the city.
In a vote that received virtually no public attention, the Baton Rouge Metro Council on Wednesday approved a contract allowing the Baton Rouge Police Department to participate in the reality television series On Patrol: Live. The 7–5 decision was passed with no community input — and with only one resident rising to speak in opposition: activist Gary Chambers.
“There are more than 200,000 Black people in East Baton Rouge Parish,” Chambers said after the vote. “And not one of them — except me — knew this was happening. That should tell you everything.”
The contract, made with production company Half Moon Pictures LLC, allows filming of BRPD officers during live patrols through May 2026. The department will receive licensing compensation in return. Filming is expected to begin later this year.
Chambers, a longtime advocate for justice and police accountability, said the lack of public engagement wasn’t an accident — it was the point.
“This didn’t spark concern — because people didn’t even know,” he said. “It wasn’t a debate. It was a decision made in the dark.”
A Silent Department and a Silenced Community
The contract was introduced through the Mayor-President’s office. Current BRPD Chief Thomas “T.J.” Morse did not speak publicly during the meeting. No department representatives addressed the council or the public with details or justification for the agreement.
Chambers attempted to speak during the public comment period but was initially denied time by the Mayor Pro Tem. He was later granted the floor after Councilman Cleve Dunn Jr. yielded his own speaking time.
“This process wasn’t flawed,” Chambers said. “It was built to avoid us.”
Body Cams vs. Broadcast Cameras
In his remarks, Chambers strongly criticized what he called “selective transparency,” — pointing to the department’s refusal to release body camera footage from recent police incidents while welcoming national TV cameras into residents’ neighborhoods.
“Right now, there are videos from just the last month that BRPD refuses to release,” Chambers said. “That is unjust.”
He said it’s telling that BRPD is quick to participate in On Patrol: Live, which portrays real-time arrests and interactions with citizens, while resisting calls to release critical footage that could show police misconduct or wrongdoing.
“You ask them to release body cam footage in 48 hours? They say, ‘Oh, we can’t do that.’ But they’ll show up to somebody’s door with a TV crew and no questions asked?”
Chambers concluded:
“The only camera I’m interested in from BRPD is the body camera — not a reality show lens.”
Reality TV, Real-World Risks
Chambers said residents who call 911 may now find themselves broadcast on national television in moments of distress or trauma — without their consent, without context, and without protection.
“This isn’t about transparency. This is about spectacle,” he said. “It’s trauma, turned into entertainment.”
He warned that heavily policed neighborhoods — many of them predominantly Black and working-class — are likely to be the focus of the show’s filming, placing those residents at greater risk of public exposure and stigma.
“If an officer is caught in a bad moment, they’re protected. But if a young Black man gets pulled over? His face is on cable TV before his mother even knows what happened.”
Call to Action
Though Chambers lives in an area where the sheriff’s department, not BRPD, responds to emergencies — meaning he’s unlikely to be directly impacted — he said he showed up for those who will be.
“I came for the people who didn’t know,” he said. “The people whose neighborhoods are going to be filmed, who are going to be shown to the world without a voice.”
Chambers urged the Black community in Baton Rouge to stay informed, show up to local meetings, and speak out before the next quiet vote shapes public policy without public input.
“If we’re not at the table, we’re on the table,” he said. “We’ve got to show up. Or they’ll keep deciding for us — in silence.”
