World's Wildest Police Videos (1998–2012) User Reviews

When I come home from work, I turn this on which is recorded on my DVR

[DisturbedPixie · 8/10 · 20 January 2009]

This is nearly non stop entertainment. The only problem is that I think they repeat some clips. I adore the commentary. Sometimes I think some shows commentary is too drawn out or cheesy, but this has the best amount of cheese-- One liner puns! Now you may say, "Puns aren't funny" and I say to you, "Hey, screw you!" Every segment or chase has a smart@$$ ending about the guy getting what he deserved. Now, some of the "criminals" may be committing non serious crimes, and it puts those people in a bad light, but I assure you, that we are all criminals. There are so many laws that we don't even know about. We all do things that we are not proud of. Others do more than some, and some don't get caught! ;) This is tasteful and they don't show gruesome images that some shows will display. And if you don't like the commentary, turn on a great hardcore song and sit back and enjoy.

Bunnell is the man, great work!!!

[The_Angel_Hunter · 10/10 · 2 February 2008]

Another good reality crime TV show that has existed. I love to watch REAL (as opposed to fake or fictional) car chases, robberies in progress, fights and brawls, and so forth. But I don't understand why the show had to end in 2002. It should have kept airing. You cannot compare these realistic crime scenes to fictional scenes from movies or TV shows, because there is a difference between the two: unpredictability; or, expect the unexpected. I believe in actuality a lot more than make-believe, because actuality is not only entertaining, it is also educating, meaning it is meant to increase public awareness by enhancing public safety and helping authorities identify and catch criminals who are not yet brought to justice. So who needs phony fiction while you can watch all this cool stuff?! It is time to GET REAL!!! Thank you John Bunnell.

Is that Lou from 'Neighbours'???

[chris_escritt · 5/10 · 25 July 2006]

In England, this programme seems to have been the cornerstone of Channel 5's pre sports thread on a Sunday evening since the dawn of time (or at least since Channel 5 were forced to import non-pornographic material in order to avoid another hysterical Daily Mail campaign). In essence, this show is 60 minutes of frantic car chases, inept corner shop robberies and gushing, hagiographical praising of the American police force's abilities to apprehend all these scoundrels and cads. Yet as much as I am in awe (well maybe not so much awe as incredulous disbelief) of all this right winged, jingoistic hokum, the programme's main source of unintentional hilarity stems from its front man, Sheriff John Bunnell - a lithe, silver haired, permatan gnome of a man armed week in week out with bleached teeth, a perpetual sneer and a drooling script of hackneyed clichés. Within about 50 seconds of the programme starting, the viewer is greeted with grainy, poor quality police footage (usually dated from the early 1990s) of a station wagon crashing into a tree sound tracked by squealing sirens, police troopers barking orders and Bunnell's commentary gushing out gems such as: This fleeing cowboy thought that he could outrun his federal pursuers - - - but he hadn't counted on the might of the law.

In Britain, there are a number of more sedate versions of this show... yet none can match the vacant silliness and patriotic bunkum of this enjoyably rubbish American import.

Very entertaining show, worth taking a look at it.

[tec9-1 · 10/10 · 19 May 2006]

This is a show where u can see video footage of criminals doing criminal things. it contains real video tapes of criminals who usually is trying to run from the law,witch isn't sutch a good idea as u will see.You will see how the cops is pursuing the criminals in ether cop cars,helicopter,on foot and sometimes even on water.

most of the clips involves lots of intense action witch can be dramatic,shocking,disturbing,and even really amusing sometimes,it depends on you. u will get to feel the adrenalin in especially these high speed chases when the criminals is trying to run from cops in usually over 100mph and more doing crazy stuff like slalom between civilian cars,insane crossings of crossroads,ramming police/civilian cars,and sometimes even shooting at cops. the chases usually end in a big crash.

Sheriff John Bunnell(host),Jensen,and the guy in the chopper are with us the whole show doing their comments on the situation. they talk almost all the time about the danger of the situation,but thats because not all people really understand whats going on. they both overacts a little,but they do have good points no mather what other people mean. without the commentators it would be like watching a movie without sound,and as we all know that would been boring.

if you feel like watching real video tape footage of crazy desperate criminals risking everything they got trying to escape the law, and see how the cops handle these real dangerous situations with their strategy and tactic, this would be the perfect show for you. it is very entertaining for most people,but maybe a little too mutch scary reality for other people if i can say it like that. i highly recommend this show for those who wants a taste of real crazy action. i personally thinks reality beats fiction by far! i never missed a single episode of this awesome American show.

John "Buttsmell" and his Propaganda Campaign

[udontknowjoe · 1/10 · 3 August 2006]

After watching this series for about a year, I found Worlds Wildest Police Videos to be typical police propaganda trying to create fear in the American citizen as a measure of control. That lying P.O.S. John "Buttsmell" and his "drama queen" style narration makes me sick. As example: "He races past a loaded school bus with inches to spare" Fact: the bus in question was empty (could see this on the tape) and it was half a block from the chase. Situation: Cops MURDER a guy in a white Miata then justify the MURDER by saying the suspect tried to run the officers down. FACT: The guy in the Miata was trying to escape and the Officer put himself into the path of the fleeing vehicle. Worst wanna-be reality series I've ever had the misfortune to see on my television screen. I'm happy this crap finally got canceled.

I Love This Show

[pdx guy · 10/10 · 20 May 1999]

This is a killer show. Chases, robberies in progress, and sometimes just plain dumb criminals. My heart races every time I watch "World's Wildest Police Videos" and its spin-off shows "Surviving The Moment of Impact", "World's Scariest Police Chases", and "World's Scariest Police Shootouts". I love the commentary by Host, John Bunnell, and the insights by former Portland, Oregon Police Officer C. W. Jensen.

Bad-Apple for honest cops.

[tester22 · 1/10 · 24 December 2006]

In a society where children were once instructed to find a police officer if trouble arose, to todays society where children are taught to distrust police, John Bunnell only reinforces todays thinking.

The mere fact that he still uses the title "Sheriff", even though he was sheriff as a fill in for a few months, should give a good insight of this "cops" character. Once election time came around, the people voted in the real sheriff. John Bunnell ran for the office, but lost the vote due to reports of corruption.

Same for his sidekick Jenson. Fired as a captain for filing false expense reports. As we all know this type abuse goes on for while until the department says enough. How many more where there? Yet now we have a show, where two arrogant corrupt cops, try to influence the audience with their one-sided, above the law view. It is almost comical that these two actually expect us to believe such.

Only in America can two ignorant and corrupt cops, be put on TV as heroes. Not only doing a disservice to any honest police officers, but disgracing the USA in any country this program is aired.

I can only imagine the lies, mis-truths, exaggerations, and above the law attitude from these two, used in court against innocent people. John is famous for telling us the "facts" surrounding the chase, yet it is clear that it is entirely scripted, and he has no clue who or what took place. I feel sorry for the innocent people he put away, using the same scripts.

Police chases are fun to watch, but John has given us a clear view of the dark under-belly of the police force in America these days. Granted there are many good police officers in America, John is unfortunately the bad apple that ruins it for so many good cops.

If 10% of the cops in the USA could justify two teens dying for a taillight being out like John can, think of where we would be in this country?

Oh, that commentary!

[bronty · 31 January 2005]

Like so many other American police-video shows, "World's Wildest Police Videos" features (supposedly real) footage that is often deeply affecting and upsetting and, yes, sometimes amusing (stupid drunks CAN be funny), and for that, the producers can be lauded for perhaps doing a service to viewers by showing the affects of drinking, drugs, mental instability and all-around poor judgment. (And, like "Cops" before it, officers are sometimes shown in less-than-flattering light, usually due to their own inflated sense of importance and the presence of the cameras.) Unfortunately, any good is virtually overwhelmed by its host, former sheriff John Bunnell, and officer CW Jensen; Bunnell, with his lantern jaw and blinding white teeth, offers up commentary with prose so purple you can hardly believe it - no cliché is spared, and none of this is helped by his incongruously high-pitched, rather queen-y and nasal speaking voice and smug, "I told you so" intonations; Jensen, on the other hand, is supposed to be the 'voice of reason': calm, measured, soothing. However, it also appears this 'voice of reason' is unable to appear on camera without a treasure trove of make-up. Both Bunnell and Jensen INSIST on telling the audience EXACTLY what is going on on-screen, which often inspires the viewer to reply, "No sh*t, Sherlock." I've seen British takes on this type of programming and they featured tasteful commentary, used judiciously, opting to let the footage speak for itself. Not here! Displaying our usual American bombast, Bunnell and company AT NO TIME allow us to have a moment to decide for ourselves how to feel or think, for they offer words of the knee-jerk, lowest-common-denominator variety. Even worse than its hosts are the insipid, INSTANTLY ANNOYING and NON-STOP SQUEALING SIRENS THROUGHOUT EVERY SEGMENT, even when it's all-too-obvious that there is NO WAY the sound of sirens could possibly be heard by the cameras, particularly in the myriad news and police helicopter footage (by the way, both news and police helicopters the world over have THE EXACT SAME commentator, as the voice heard belongs to one man and one man only) , giving not-so-subtle credence to the feeling that much of what you're watching is, if not entirely fabricated, undeniably doctored. Still, its popularity, even several years after finishing production, says plenty, so it must have done something right. A time-waster but little more.

help needed here

[goodingarturo · 10/10 · 22 January 2007]

yesterday i saw a chase that happened in my home town in these police videos and i want to know where to find it. where can i find a list of episodes that can tell me where to locate the episode i'm looking for? all the episode lists I've found all say "police videos narrated by John..." so i can't distinguish them one from another. can some one please help me. oh and i know that the episode has ex-con desert chase, 80 mph chase, teenage joyriders, and off-ramp crash somewhere in the episode if someone finds something you can e-mail me at [e-mail] ----------------- ------------------------ --------------- ----------- ------------- ------------- ---------------- ----------------- ------------- --------------- -------------- ----------- -------------

Unbelievable!

[stumpmee77 · 2/10 · 15 March 2009]

--Show's producers didn't think getting another news chopter reporter other than a guy who spews the word "unbelieveable" in 95% of his "observations".

--Resident news chopter guy isn't on Valium. If he isn't, think he should be. I'm not asking a question.

--That, according to clever snappy quip-fest (in his own mind), police infallible and invincible wanna-be brainwasher "Sheriff" Bunnell, police are indeed invincible an infallible.

--It seems according to Bunnell, all criminals are unbelievably stupid.

--If police analysis regular C.W. Jensen hasn't been prescribed eye drops. His eyes blinks an average 2X--when his eyes blinks.

--There's no person lifting up one word per card for Jensen to read.

--I see a police-person other than C.W. Jensen dosing the audience police procedures 101.

--That everyone breaking in with a comment that precludes an "unbelievably harrowing crisis situation" thinks the audience just finished watching "Sesame Street".

--Nobody (especially Bunnell and chopter guy) thinks just to shut up and let the footage play out.

--Pure camp talker C.W. Jensen doesn't bust out laughing once the camera moves onto an unbelievable police chase.

--If that helicopter guy does not look to that eye-witness reporter at the Hinderburg disaster as his role model.

--It appears Bunnell envisions himself as the John Walsh of the 21st century. Believe he should dream on; has a huge act to follow.

--When I'm not laughing after ten minutes into the show.

Watch cops, American Jail, Forensic Files, and many, many more. All are more...believable. This is unbelievably funny.

Stop with the freaking FAKE SOUND EFFECTS!

[PghSportsNation · 4/10 · 9 July 2012]

I enjoy watching reality police videos from time to time, and this show is decent to watch with the chases, but for the love of God, can they stop with the over the top fake assed sound effects? I mean, car tires DO NOT SQUEAL NONSTOP, ESPECIALLY ON GRAVEL!!! How dumb do the producers think people are? I understand that George Carlin once said, Think how stupid the average person is, then realize that half of them are stupider than that, but c'mon, enough with the tires already! Also, Mr. so called "Sheriff", he is very annoying and so egotistical, that I often mute the broadcast while watching. Cops do a great job, but they are not Gods and they are not perfect as the "Sheriff" always portrays them. Watching a police car pit maneuver a speeding car that causes a major accident to another innocent driver should be a crime committed by the officer, not the speeder.

A hate-mongering piece of garbage

[MadiZone · 1/10 · 1 October 2006]

This show is one of a kind. Never before have I come across a show that has infuriated me to the point of wanting to torture the narrator to death. The narrator on this show is the most arrogant one-sided prick I've ever listened to on television. It remains a mystery how this show was ever conceived or how it got into production and airing, because if I was the narrator, I would be full of embarrassment, that no sane person would be able to approach me seriously again.

He is so biased that it kills any value that the show may have had to teach you anything about crime and instead becomes an endless display of car-chases, robberies and arsons exposed in the pillory.

It's the absolute rock-bottom of entertainment appealing to a brainless, worthless audience and the fact that a television channel in Denmark has purchased broadcasting rights for it, shows that this kind of trash holds an audience, not only in America, but throughout the world.

There's something rotten in the state of Denmark (and everywhere else for that matter)

Good but not Great

[stevedabull · 13 August 2002]

This show would be great if it did not have that stupid commentary. Whoever writes the script for the commentary is so one sided that even when the perpetrator does an outstanding job at trying to evade capture, the commentator usually says something stupid like "He is out of control!!!". I know the show is not supposed to encourage others to do what they see, but come on..... I am forced to watch the show on mute now.

We deserve better than this

[kennelman · 1/10 · 28 June 2008]

The car chases are interesting enough, but watch this with the sound down as the worst double act since the Rosenbergs try to whip up righteous hysteria with their preaching. There are a number of shows these two supplement their pensions on - anything with 'Wildest' in the title appears to be their forte.

As if 'Sheriff' (he was a Sheriff for barely 6 months, and un-elected) John Bumhole's cheesy commentary wasn't enough we have C.W Jensen's comments to deal with, mainly over the helicopter footage. Now casting a quick eye over "CW's" Wiki entry, I can find no mention of any duties performed by him on traffic or air duty. But we hear what appears to be his voice seemingly calling out on the radio over every single helicopter chase, from Police Forces coast to coast and border to border.

Now either CW got about a lot more than his c.v. would suggest, or more likely he sits in a Voice Over Booth with a radio distort on his voice, after the event, reading a script. This along with the obvious sound effects of sirens, horns and tyre screeches (often on dirt roads!) add up to a particularly cheap and nasty trick. Not journalism, but entertainment - as far from reality as it gets.

The one saving grace is that from the other comments I can see here, the American audience who are supposed to lap this garbage up aren't fooled for a moment.

has mixed results...

[orangecakemix · 25 October 2003]

If you can get past John Bunnell's ear-grating loudmouth nature then high powered suspense awaits you - consisting mainly of police-pursuit car chases which often culminates into wrecks, occasionally you see life-saving rescue operations, riot sequences etc. ala RealTV. However the show suffers from Bunnell's one-sided and often uninformed narration (he once mistook a Toyota MR2 for a Pontiac Fiero). If he makes a careless observation like THAT it makes one wonder how much he really knows.

The program has much needed room for improvement. It has come under investigation for using audio/video enhancements (i.e. sound effects). The producers take a two minute chase sequence and expand it with replay after replay of the same videobyte and before-commercial cliff hangers that when you break it down, it only amounts to less than 30 minutes of unique programming. Although the video footage differs, it seems bunnell's dialogue stays the same from episode to episode - he just uses different words. Still it's an exciting adrenaline rush that keeps you on the edge of your seat to see what will happen next.

Years before this show started, Bunnell could be seen on duty as a narcotics agent in the earliest episodes of COPS (and he was a more quieter restrained person before he became this TV personality whore).

Needs some fixin!!

[ticklemetorgo · 16 October 2004]

The show's not bad but can use some work, yeah a lot of the chases are not edited correctly, I know this cause I watched a few of them on live TV myself (I lived in LA until 4 years ago)John Bunnell may have been a sheriff at one point but I don't think being a interm sheriff for a few months deserves you the title. But he does have the whitest teeth and my 16 month old son can imitate his jutting lower jaw pretty good, so I am thinking of dressing him up as John Bunnell for Halloween. Does Bunnell write his own commentary?

I think it might be best to revive MST3000 and have them watch the chases and put in their own commentary, that would be fun. Send John Bunnell to an oral surgeon to fix that lower jaw (DO NOT TOUCH HIS PERFECT TEETH!!) and C.W Jensen to creative thinking school. Constantly stating the obvious is not interesting!!

Hoggswilly, Ohio....

[willpaynter · 1 February 2005]

This TV show is genius.

Each scene starts with the name of what sounds like a made up place.

Davisville, Kentucky. East Shag, England. Clintonsfallus, Arkansaw.

The bad guy always loses, when they can they show the bad guy losing, and the other times you have to believe that the person did not get away. Yeah right.

The guy who presents the show always does a piece to camera after each ad break. In the background there is a mock scene of a cop handcuffing someone to his car or a firetruck putting out a burning car. Why? In case you couldn't imagine what it might look like. Genius.

And then he commentates. I won't say more about it other than watch the programme and listen. After the piece, normally 2 or 3 minutes, there is a 30 second summary where he repeats in brief all that has happened, with a few more sirens, and adds his conclusion with a really weak pun.

Eg. "When a maniac take a car and plows it into a bar, he soon finds out it is him, not the innocent, who will end up behind bars"

or "When this criminal flees an accident and crashes into another car after going through a intersection, he soon finds he encounters a stop sign he cant avoid, three years in a federal penitentiary from a judge"

All in all, a rollicking example of American TV and society at its very best.

AWESOME!!

[rowsdower45 · 20 February 2003]

Low adrenaline output? Just got back from work/school? In a bad mood? Check your local listings and see when this is on (on FOX or FX). Never miss a single installment of this show!

Great 5 minutes of crash TV

[Prince_of _Calcutta · 2 February 2000]

This is a show designed to capture the attention of even the most die-hard channel surfer.The car chases, actual crashes, real shoot-outs etc make for compelling television - but only for some five minutes. Fact is, if you have seen one episode, you have seen them all. Even though you still get the occasional great pay-off like seeing an army *tank* chase This show could be far, far better served if the concerned broadcast channel used it as five minute filler material between its regularly programmed shows.

Worst Reality Police Show on TV

[jimmy-150 · 27 April 2002]

I am training officer for police and corrections officers and have a first hand knowledge of actual police and corrections tactics and techniques, so I was hoping that this program would live up to its billing. I was also hoping that I could use some of the clips to help show officer trainees the hazards that exist in the field. Unfortunately I have never been able to sit through an entire episode of this program without changing the channel in disgust. First off, I think John Bunnell is the most arrogant person to ever show his face on TV, and his credibility comes in question with the recent revelation that many of the portions of the show are staged or recreations. (You can tell the re-creations now because they have "Police Training Video" captioned over them) Bunnell's term as Multnomah County Sheriff is also a mystery. The website for Multnomah County does not give any information on him other than a brief clip that a biography is coming soon but hasn't been updated in over 16 months. From information found in court records in cases filed against the Multnomah County Sheriff's office, reveals that Sheriff Bob Skipper retired before his term expired and John Bunnell filled in as interim sheriff for a short period of time until a Sheriff Dan Noelle took office in the summer of 1995. The second thing that really bothers me about this program is that the videos shown are not accurate depictions of what transpires in each event. The clips are edited and spliced together out of chronological order (watch the time stamps on the videos, that is what they are there for). The clips are also narrated with voice over that is intended to make viewers think that the narrator is the actual police observer in a police helicopter. It is amazing however that the voice of the "observer" is the same no matter where in the world the clip occurs. Some of the dialog that the voice over uses is unbelievable and inaccurate (in one case the narrator says that the police started chasing someone for fleeing officers, which can only be charged after a chase starts not, thus could not be the reason for a chase). Bunnell's voice overs are also a joke, most of them are over statements of the obvious or embellishments on the actual facts portrayed on the videos (even after editing to Fox's liking). The only truly accurate and possibly the only credit to this program are the comments from other Law Enforcement experts such as C.W. Jenson who gives accurate commentary on the training and concerns of police involved in pursuits.

All in all, I would say that this is the worst "reality" show on TV today, it is a blatant second-rate rip-off of COPS which has some of the same "reality" problems as this show (radio transmissions are dubbed in to fill in or cover dead air-time, listen for the closing title radio transmission, it can be heard over the radio verbatim in several episodes that are taped in different areas of the country).

police videos

[tylerdurdenbleeds · 14 February 2006]

Whenever you do a TV show you can not have "dead air".

SO even though you can see what the host is talking about, they must tell you what you are seeing.

It is a rule on TV. Check out any reality show with video.

So while you may be so smart you understand what is happening, some people need the commentary, and if no one was talking it would be strange, like a movie with no music.

Thats why they have people talking the whole time.

If you don't believe me, turn off the sound the next time you watch the show. then when capt Jensen talks you will get why he is talking.

Or when BUnnell has some stupid stuff to say you will know it was written for him to say. because if there is no sound it doesn't make sense.

I think this show SUCKS

[daisyy76 · 8 October 2002]

I think this show is just sick, one of the clips in there is my brother dying!! and John Bunnell makes his smart comments and makes it a joke. It is no joke that I will never see my brother. It is no joke that they put this on national Television and NEVER asked the family for permission. And I don't think my brothers death should be entertainment for other people.

Great show, shame about the commentary

[doobeedoo2 · 29 May 2006]

I really can't work out if I love/hate this show - the commentary is waaayyyy over the top ("Freeway Overpass"? Why not just say "bridge"???) and the obvious use of post-production sound effects/commentary turns something which should be informational and act as a warning (remember kids, "Information is power, a power that could save your lives!") into some sort of brain-dead entertainment for Homer Simpson-ites.

-- POSSIBLE SPOILER -- One of the funniest instances of overdubbing was when a famous British chase was shown (I'm from the UK myself) - for those who have seen it, it's the one with the stolen red sports car skidding and rear-ending a truck. Anyway, having seen this clip with the original commentary on a UK-equivalent show called "Police! Camera! Action!", in which the helicopter pilot unemotionally grumbles a few innocuous lines ("Yep, he's turned left, straight on...oh, he's hit a lorry, that's the chase over", or similar), I was struck dumb when I saw it on this show - they'd clearly got in some actor to overdub in an excitable, and over-the-top, Hugh Grant/Prince Charles sound-a-like accent ("Golly, gosh! What is this chap doing? He's speeding away down the road! Oh my goodness he's hit the truck! I *do* hope he's OK!! Tally ho, old chap!" - or similar, but you get the idea).

On a serious note, there is really no need for this over-the-top commentary - we can see the carnage drink-driving/speeding can cause, we don't need some cop/would-be actor to explain it.

Great hour of television.

[goodfellas_69 · 3 May 2002]

Damn this show is good. Police chases, shootouts, sieges and tons of other cool stuff. The most entertaining and exciting show on TV, even though your bound to see a few of the clips on other related shows. Don't listen to any reviews here that bag the show, it's damn entertaining for anyone that loves action, especially if it's the real thing.