While I was watching A&E's Beyond Scared Straight , I noticed a commercial for a new program called Panic 911. . The show basically re-enacts 9-1-1 calls in a way similar to America's Most Wanted. The 9-1-1 call starts and has actors playing the caller and com-officer, and basically uses the audio of the real 9-1-1 call as the dialogue.

Personally, I do not like the premise of this show. I believe this program is just exploitative of someone at their absolute worst. This show does not seem to function as anything other than entertainment. The show COPS follows police officers as they do their duties and shows the dangers, as well as the procedures, of law enforcement. The First 48 shows police detectives solving and investigating a homicide or finding a missing person. COPS uses no re-enactment and to knowledge The First 48 uses very little.

America's Most Wanted uses re-enactments in a similar way that Panic 911 does, but there is one key difference. AMW uses it to portray a story in order to get people' attention, and thus uses that attention in hopes of capturing a fugitive. While many can and do argue that AMW is using people's stories to get attention, at least the AMW truly assists with law enforcement and capturing fugitives.

Panic 911 does not do this. Panic 911 simply re-creates and re-enacts various emergency calls. Are we at a point to where we want to listen and watch a re-enactment of somebody dying, or listening in as a mother watches her daughter drown while swimming? I do not know how graphic the show will get or how they will edit the calls, but I just think it is wrong to recreate or enact these calls simply for ratings or for show content.

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"In Honor There Is Hope"

Canada born, Georgia raised.

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Never annoy a cat. We like our meals hot and bleeding.

Arguably, if you censor out the names of the person, and any other info (like address etc.) you could theoretically use it without permission. Though I am unsure if A&E would do it or how many agencies would actually let them. On the preview video it has her name and address censored.

__________________
"In Honor There Is Hope"

Canada born, Georgia raised.

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Never annoy a cat. We like our meals hot and bleeding.

I wouldn't either. Regardless, I still disagree with the whole idea of the show. I won't be watching it.

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"In Honor There Is Hope"

Canada born, Georgia raised.

I think this show should not be aired, it really has your heart into it, because you feel for these ppl. I was sitting on the edge of the couch whole time! You really dont want to see how these ppl suffered or died!

It's been said there is 'nothing new under the sun' and this is a prime example. This may be a new way of communicating or participating in the emergency but people have been doing something similar for decades at least. They used to (illegally ) follow ambulances, and rubber necking has always tied up traffic especially when it looked like there was a fatality. Scanners and CBs were once a craze among not just hermit schitzos but regular every day folks who didn't have enough to do with their time.
People are just facinated with this stuff.

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