Network films police, students for new TV series

Oct 20 2009 - 11:48pm | Chase Birthisel

Students could flip on their televisions and see classmates in front of red and blue flashing lights.

Camera crews have paired up with the San Marcos Police Department to film students during their encounters with police officers.

Cineflix Productions, in association with the G4 network, is filming footage for its coming series Campus PD. According to Cineflix Productions’ official Web site, the show will “depict university life from the perspective of the law enforcement professionals who police them.”

Howard Williams, SMPD police chief, said the network first approached him two months ago. He said filming will continue until the end of this week.

“They told me they were looking to film officers in a university town, so they could show how policing in a university setting is a little different,” Williams said.

Williams said he was concerned about the image of students at Texas State.

“I explained to them if they were trying to make our students look bad, I was not interested in doing it,” Williams said. “They assured me that it was not what they are trying to do. Of course, I have no control over what they ultimately put out there.”

Williams said SMPD does not receive any money for cooperating with the network.

“We’re hoping to get a little bit of good publicity for San Marcos out of it,” Williams said. “We want them to get some footage of putting the students in a good light. I want the university to look good because I’m a student there now.”

Ralph Meyer, university police chief, said the G4 network contacted him last spring. He told the network UPD was uninterested.

“The whole series is preying on young adults,” Meyer said. “They wanted to see students making fools of themselves.”

Meyer said the Campus PD film crew attended the tailgating event. He said UPD forced the crew to leave the area.

Williams said the crew was shooting B-roll film, which is used to tie scenes together, at the tailgate. He said the crew also filmed at the Tanger Outlet Mall.

Shannon Fitzpatrick, attorney for students, said the filming crew must have permission to show a student’s face.

“This is a commercial enterprise, so generally what they do is fuzz out people’s faces until they can get a release,” Fitzpatrick said. “But (the crew) can certainly film them if it is a public place.”

Fitzpatrick said only a signature is necessary for permission.

“You either waive your rights and say, ‘Yes, you can show this on TV,’” Fitzpatrick said. “Or you can say ‘for an exchange for a sum, I will allow you to show my face.’ It is a contractual agreement.”

Fitzpatrick said rarely do shows like Campus PD allow people who sign a waiver to see the footage being used.

“They want to be in control over what the final product is,” Fitzpatrick said.  “It is really dangerous. I would never recommend anyone doing that.”

Kristina Levsky, a representative of the G4 network, said the company will not release the launch date of ‘Campus PD’. She said the company did not wish to release any information about the show at this time.

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