OCALA, FL (352today.com) – The Marion Theatre in downtown Ocala was the safest place you could be on Sunday evening. The place was packed with dozens of law enforcement from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO).
Instead of walking perps, deputies, K-9 officers, and members of Air One, the agency’s aviation unit, walked the red carpet at the historic theatre for the worldwide premiere of a new television series based entirely on them.
It’s called Chopper Cops and the first season just dropped on Paramount+ on Tuesday, June 18.
Sheriff Billy Woods says he didn’t think twice about having the documentary producers embed with his team for nearly four months. He says he hopes it opens the eyes of viewers across the country.
“It’s not a made up tv show. It’s not Blue Bloods. It’s none of the others. It’s the real thing and you can hear it in their (the deputies’) voices,” said Woods. He said viewers will witness what the deputies experience. “There are things that if they don’t bring tears to your eyes, you ain’t a human being. I’m proud of all of the men and women that wear the uniform. I’m proud of this unit.”
As the lights went down inside the theatre, the sound of helicopter blades came up.
|WATCH: Trailer for Chopper Cops
“We’re taking off. Northbound on Maricamp from C-25. We are in pursuit,” audio from an Air One pilot blares through the speakers as images from night vision cameras project in front of the audience’s eyes.
Tense music plays.
And lyrics from the show’s theme song “Wildside ft Txsh” by St. Society set the tempo.
Ready or not here we comin
Somebody better say a prayer for me (Say a prayer)
Tonight might get a little crazy (Wow)
You can meet me outside
But you better buckle up; it’s a wild ride
Welcome to the wildside (wild, wild, c’mon, wild)
“It sort of describes a little bit of the chaos, insanity, and unpredictability that these officers face on a daily basis,” said W. Hulsey Smith, the program’s executive producer. “The Marion County Sheriff’s Office are tough, strong, smart, and fearless. We believe this song captures that type of personality well.”
Smith spent over 20 years in the aerospace and defense industry, working in special mission operations. The helicopter pilot turned documentary producer says his goal was to tell a true story about what officers go through.
“In one night, I watched someone have to go to jail for resisting arrest. Then five minutes later that same officer had to calm down and help a citizen who was in distress,” said Smith who believes viewers will be hooked in the first few moments of hitting play. “Episode one is going to have you glued to your television screen. It’s a very tragic loss in the first episode. But justice prevailed.”
Multiple point of view cameras put you in the cockpit, taking viewers on an action-packed ride, seeing what the chopper pilots see as they assist units on the ground.
“I’m in the backseat of their chopper trying not to get in their way and mostly watching in awe,” said Brent Deal, the director of cinematography for the show. “Watching what they see on the ground through their lenses and being frightened myself for the men and women on the ground. I’m a 55-year-old dad and I could feel my heart pumping.”
Deal who has eight documentary films to his credit says they wanted to show the heart of what these men and women do.
“To be in the helicopter or be in the squad car and be with these guys as they are thinking about what they should do in the moment. I think everyone thinks cops are just…” Deal puffs his chest and imitates a bully. “They’re not. They have a lot of decisions to make. These men and women, as far as I can tell, make the right decisions and the county should be proud.”
Smith said the show’s concept was an easy sell to entertainment execs.
“The characters of Marion County are so compelling, and this unit is so compelling,” said Smith who credits Sheriff Woods’ leadership. “He has such an ethos in Ocala and Marion County that just comes through on the screen and the authenticity that you see is what makes this really special. Let’s put it this way, I wouldn’t want to be a criminal in Marion County. It’s community policing. But it’s also aggressive and they control crime. They’re really here to protect the citizens. Their first thought is not, ‘I need that person to go to jail.’ Their first thought is, ‘What can I do to help?'”
|RELATED: New action, docuseries “Chopper Cops” shows human side of Marion County Sheriff’s Office
Smith says that really came through on a search and rescue mission.
“A young mother and child are lost in the Ocala National Forest and seeing the pressure they (the aviation pilots) put on themselves to find them in the middle of the dark before a thunderstorm, that’s a special part of this series. It’s not necessarily the arrests. It’s that this unit saves people too,” said Smith.
Deal says he saw and heard that through his camera. He recounts what an Air One sergeant told him during an interview for the documentary.
“If the people of Marion County don’t know what happened on their block the night before, we’re doing our job. If they don’t know that evil it exists, then we’re doing our job. So, what we do is we show up. We address that evil. We wear that evil. We absorb that evil, so they don’t have to.”