NEW YORK, NY Tuesday, October 22, 2019 – TODAY BET NETWORKS announced that “COPWATCH AMERICA,” a riveting new docuseries taking a provocative and compelling look into the men and women on the front lines battling injustice at the hands of those sworn to protect, will premiere Wednesday, October 23 at 11:00 p.m. on BET. Click on the below link to watch and share a first look clip of “COPWATCH AMERICA”: https://www.bet.com/video/copwatch/season-1/exclusives/a-mother-joins-the-movement-on-copwatch-america.html.

Making its original debut on BET, COPWATCH AMERICA follows citizen-whistleblowers who have taken up a daily fight to protect their community’s lives and rights and keep law enforcement abuses of power in check.

“Far too often, contact between law enforcement and black civilians ends in violence against innocent members of our community. It is our hope that this first-of-its-kind-exposé sheds light on the issue, provides solutions and fosters a demand for accountability and justice,” said BET Networks president Scott Mills.

Across 10 action-packed episodes, viewers get in-depth, exclusive behind-the-scenes access to “copwatchers” who work diligently to combat police misconduct. Cross-cutting between New York and Atlanta, viewers will follow a diverse group of passionate and revolutionary activists who, armed with cameras, fight for justice for victims of police brutality. Their filming is not only exposing explicit cases that would otherwise go overlooked, but also shaking up the political climate and raising the collective consciousness of communities nation-wide.

In the premiere episode, audiences are introduced to ‘City’ and Shar, Atlanta-based copwatchers with The Movement Family, who lead radical social justice efforts through guerilla activism. To elevate public awareness on the status of negligent policing in their community, they defiantly set a banner on the freeway that says, “Welcome to Atlanta Home of Police Terrorism.” Meanwhile, action jumps off in New York City as copwatchers Hawk and Nupol (Chairman and President respectively, Black Lives Matter-Greater NY) stage a protest that shuts down traffic on a major New York City highway. The demonstration was held in support of the movement to have Daniel Pantaleo (NYPD Officer accused of chokehold death of Eric Garner) fired. Both tactics are high-risk actions that could result in criminal charges and arrests, but these fearless crusaders for justice remain resolute in their cause, putting their lives on the line to impact change against what many consider a corrupt system of law enforcement.

COPWATCH AMERICA is produced by Renowned Films and Critical Content for BET Networks.  Executive produced by Tom Forman, Jenny Daly, Jon Beyer and Sonia Slutsky, who also serves as showrunner for Critical Content. Max Welch, Duane Jones and Tim Withers serve as executive producers for Renowned Films. Co-executive producers are P. Frank Williams and Lorna Anozie.

For more information on COPWATCH AMERICA go to www.bet.com/copwatch and join the conversation across BET social platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) by using the hashtag #COPWATCHAMERICA.