Premiering June 18, CHOPPER COPS Features Heart-Pounding Stories of Police Chases, Suspects Hunted and Families Lost and Found By the High-Tech Eyes in the Sky
May 22, 2024 – Paramount+ announces the June 18 launch of CHOPPER COPS, an all-new docuseries that takes viewers into the cockpit of an elite Florida police team of helicopter pilots as they attack crime from the skies.
They’re just north of Disney World, but to the men and women of the Marion County Sheriff’s Department, the 1,600 square-mile area they patrol is no fantasy. Marion County’s highways, forests and suburban neighborhoods are crime scenes to more than 7,000 felonies a year. But with a jurisdiction larger than the state of Rhode Island, ground units find it impossible to have eyes everywhere.
With 10 half-hour episodes, CHOPPER COPS showcases Marion County Sheriff’s Department’s secret weapon: state-of-the-art helicopters manned by elite police pilots. Known as Air One, these chopper cops, who operate 24 hours a day and seven days a week, are equipped with high-tech infrared cameras and augmented-reality mapping capabilities that allow police on the ground to see in the dark and locate the bad guys. As Sheriff Billy Woods’ “eye in the sky,” they detect where perpetrators are running and hiding and whether they’re armed; they essentially guide the SWAT team with vital, instantaneous information that could separate life from death.
Air One’s heart-pounding stories are brought to vivid life through in-chopper cameras, radio transmissions and gripping first-person interviews with law enforcement. The series also includes high-octane footage of the elite team’s response to an officer being shot and the efforts to arrest the suspected shooter.
“If you want to know fear, and if you want to know whether these brave cops are going to come home at night, you’re about to see it in CHOPPER COPS says Sheriff Woods. “To us, failure is never an option.”
CHOPPER COPS is produced by See It Now Studios and V1 Productions. W. Hulsey Smith, David Karabinas, Brad Bernstein, Rick Cikowski, James Macnab, Chip Rives and Olive Chinarian Smith are the executive producers for V1 Productions. Susan Zirinsky and Terence Wrong are the executive producers for See It Now Studios.
About Paramount+
Paramount+, part of Paramount’s (Nasdaq: PARA, PARAA) global portfolio of multimedia entertainment and news brands, is a direct-to-consumer digital subscription video on-demand and live streaming service, combining live sports, breaking news and A Mountain of Entertainment™. The streaming service features an expansive library of original series, hit shows and popular movies across every genre from world-renowned brands and production studios, including BET, CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Pictures and the Smithsonian Channel. Paramount+ with SHOWTIME®, the service’s cornerstone plan, is also home to SHOWTIME® content, including scripted hits and critically acclaimed nonfiction projects and films. This premium plan includes unmatched events and sports programming through the local live CBS stream, including golf, basketball and more. All Paramount+ subscribers have streaming access to CBS News 24/7 and CBS Sports HQ for sports news and analysis.
For more information about Paramount+, please visit http://www.paramountplus.com/, and follow @ParamountPlus on social media.
About See It Now Studios
See It Now Studios develops and produces original documentaries and docuseries for Paramount+, CBS, the Paramount Global television networks, international providers and third-party platforms. Since launching in September 2021, See It Now Studios has produced critically acclaimed projects such as News and Documentary Emmy nominees 11 MINUTES and WATERGATE: HIGH CRIMES IN THE WHITE HOUSE, along with SUPERPOWER co-directed by Sean Penn, JFK: WHAT THE DOCTORS SAW, the Mandy Patinkin-narrated series INDIVISIBLE: HEALING HATE, and FBI TRUE, NEVER SEEN AGAIN, 9/11: THE RACE AGAINST TIME. Susan Zirinsky is the president of See It Now Studios. Follow See It Now Studios on X, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.
About V1 Productions
V1 Productions is a premiere full service media house that has built a reputation for delivering compelling, humanistic stories through its unscripted and live productions as well as breathtaking cinematography. V1 steadies its lens on real stories that emote the humanistic and truth atoms that inspire. Its flagship three season docuseries, Straight and Level currently on Amazon Prime Video, is the most watched aviation based lifestyle program in the 21 st Century and reignites the wonder of flight by chronicling some of the greatest aviators of this generation. V1 Founder and Executive Producer, W. Hulsey Smith was recognized with a 2022 Business Aviation Top 40 Under 40 Award from the National Business Aviation Association for his personal contributions to the growth of the aviation industry through his business acumen and passionate work of capturing the golden age of aviation on screen. Based in Texas with locations in Dallas and Fort Wort h, V1 has projects currently under development and in production across multiple genres. FMI: visit V1.live follow on Instagram.
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Press Contacts:
Lauren Kleiman: Lauren.Kleiman@showtime.com
Katelyn Johnson: Katelyn.Johnson@paramount.com