Final 'Live PD' Show Featuring WilCo Cops Airs Aug. 24

WILLIAMSON COUNTY, TX — The last broadcast of the popular cable show "Live PD" featuring Williamson County Sheriff's Office deputies will air on Saturday.

At its Aug. 20 meeting, Williamson County Commissioners Court members voted to end their agreement with Big Fish Entertainment LLC, producers of the reality program, to film WilCo deputies in the course of their job. The move comes amid several controversies emanating from the Williamson County Sheriff's Office, including an offensive Facebook page created by Commander Stephen Deaton that depicted acts of violence against protesting NFL players and jokes about sexual assault of women.

On Twitter, Williamson County Sheriff Robert Chody on Saturday alerted his followers to the final episode in which they will be featured as part of the show's entertainment mix. Fans of the show have organized something of a send-off for the featured WilCo cops to mark the end of their participation.

Related story: WilCo Commissioners End 'Live PD' Contract

The local force has been among the law enforcement forces featured on the show for the past three seasons.

Since the beginning of the local participation on the show, Chody had insisted the broadcast yielded a good recruitment tool. But the WilCo arrests on the show gained growing backlash from some residents and commissioners themselves, mainly centered on concerns it cast the county in a bad light in depicting aggressive arrests in a region of Texas where crime statistics are relatively low. Concern also arose as to whether participating deputies were playing up to the camera with more aggression toward suspects to ensure more television-made drama.

Check the "Live PD" schedule here.