Why is Detroit Banning Reality-TV Cameras?

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Reality-show producers: Detroit is no longer the place for you.

That’s because Mayor Dave Bing has instituted a ban on reality shows following cops on police raids in the Motor City. The decision comes more than a week after 7-year-old Aiyana Stanley-Jones was killed by a bullet from a misfired police weapon during an early-morning raid pursuing a murder suspect thought to be in her home.

A crew shooting the incident had been following a special-response team for the A&E reality show The First 48, which chronicles police departments on the trail of homicide suspects. The footage, taken by a production team for ITV Studios, has been turned over to the Michigan State Police for an investigation into the case.

Geoffrey Fieger, attorney for Aiyana’s family, claims footage he’s seen disputes the official police report. But he has not said whether or not the clip came from the reality show crew. A&E Networks has declined to comment on the case.

Despite the ban, depictions of crime in Motown aren’t leaving the vivid imaginations of Hollywood producers. This fall, ABC is premiering a new drama in the tradition of Law & Order and CSI called Detroit 187. But it’s nowhere near reality. For one thing it’s being shot in Atlanta. For another ther police code “1-8-7” indicates a murder call only in California.