The Los Angeles City Council has put the brakes on a $15,000 request to hire outside entertainment counsel for negotiations tied to a proposed LAPD documentary-style television show, instructing that the matter instead be routed to three separate committees for further discussion. No production agreement exists, no show has been greenlit and no filming has taken place, according to the LAPD communications consultant who developed the concept.
Council Punts Without Debate
Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson sent the request to the Public Safety, Budget and Finance, and Ad Hoc Film and Television committees, according to MyNewsLA.com. The council held no discussion on the issue before sending it off for additional review, the outlet reported. The LAPD had already transferred the $15,000 in funding from its own accounts to the city attorney's office to cover outside counsel, and the city attorney's office has said the outside firm was chosen through a competitive process.
That firm is expected to represent the city in negotiations with 44 Blue Productions LLC, a Burbank-based production company. Per the same account, Kevin O'Conner is a partner serving as lead negotiating counsel who will manage the negotiations day to day until any production agreement is executed, while Wendy Heller is a partner also handling the negotiation. 44 Blue Productions has worked with government agencies before, including the New Orleans Police Department and the L.A. County Fire Department, whose sworn personnel were featured in the 2023 NBC series L.A. Fire and Rescue for one season.
A Concept Born From a Consultant's Contract
The idea traces back to Robert Port, who developed the proposed LAPD television show concept while working as the department's communications consultant. Port joined the LAPD in 2025 as a temporary consultant tasked with improving the department's image, a role the Los Angeles Times described as being quietly brought on so LAPD leaders could give the department's battered public image a spit shine. The Police Foundation, a nonprofit that supports the LAPD, donated $20,000 to pay for Port's four-month media consulting contract that year.
Port's original consulting proposal said he could help the department better vet outside pitches, including a pitch from a major production company for a ride-along-style reality series, per the Times. In February, the City Council approved creation of an internal communications director position and its $191,000 annual funding; Port was not identified as the intended candidate at the hearing, and the Board of Police Commissioners did not vote on the authorization. Port has ties to LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell and former Chief William Bratton, and he has said he would focus on building a forward-looking plan to strengthen messaging, boost officer morale and protect the department's image — proposals that, per the Times, also included centralizing social media strategy across the LAPD's 21 stations rather than letting each handle its own accounts.
Port Pushes Back on Timeline Concerns
Port has said a potential production deal was only one of several things he had been working on, and he emphasized that the filming project is not in its preliminary stages. There's no agreement, no show and no filming, he said, according to the same reporting. Mayor Karen Bass' office did not immediately respond to a request for comment, MyNewsLA.com reported.
The Los Angeles Police Protective League, which represents LAPD officers ranked lieutenant and below, has thrown its support behind the concept, calling it a great idea. The union said the proposed show would give residents and prospective LAPD employees an unfiltered look at modern-day policing and officers' daily sacrifices.
Critics Call It Propaganda, Question the Price Tag
Not everyone is convinced. Rob Quan criticized how the council handled the $15,000 request, saying it lacked a committee hearing and an LAPD report before being advanced, and he questioned why the city should spend that sum on outside negotiation counsel at all. Daniel Sosa went further, questioning the project's underlying purpose and describing it as potentially city-sponsored police propaganda. Taxpayers should not be funding police-relations content masquerading as entertainment, Sosa said.
What a Finished Show Might Look Like
If a deal eventually comes together, 44 Blue Productions' track record offers some sense of the format such a show might take. The company co-produced A&E's Nightwatch, a documentary series chronicling first responders on the job that aired three seasons set in New Orleans between 2015 and 2017 before returning for a fourth season focused on the city's emergency medical paramedics working 12-hour overnight shifts, according to nola.com. The company also produces Homicide Squad New Orleans for A&E alongside Wolf Entertainment, a series following detectives in the New Orleans Police Department's homicide unit; its second season ran seven one-hour episodes airing weekly, per a separate nola.com report.
For now, the proposal remains stuck in committee limbo, with no timeline offered for when the Public Safety, Budget and Finance, or Ad Hoc Film and Television committees might take it up.
