BECAUSE
BECAUSE HE FAILED TO DIM HIS HEADLIGHTS...
HIS HEADLIGHTS... "FLAT ON YOUR STOMACH- "SIR I
CAN'T BREATHE-" "FLAT ON YOUR
STOMACH."
STOMACH." I CAN'T BREATHE!" "JAVIER AMBLER" WAS TASED FOUR TIMES AS HE
BEGGED FOR HIS LIFE...
SIX MONTHS AGO-- THE KVUE
DEFENDERS REVEALED WHAT
HAPPENED TO HIM IN THE CUSTODY
OF WILLIAMSON
COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPUTIES. NOW--
TEXAS LAWMAKERS ARE VOWING TO
PREVENT
SITUATIONS LIKE THESE- IN THE
FUTURE.
FUTURE.
FUTURE. THEY'RE PROPOSING LEGISLATION--
THAT TAKES AIM AT WHAT THEY SAY CREATED A TOXIC
MIX:
MIX:
MIX: POLICE WORK AND REALITY SHOW TV
CAMERAS. HERE'S SENIOR REPORTER TONY
PLOHETSKI.
PLOHETSKI. FOR 18 MONTHS -- THE SHOW "LIVE
PD" TURNED THE WILLIAMSON COUNTY SHERIFF'S
OFFICE AND
SEVERAL OF ITS DEPUTIES INTO
REALITY TV STARS.
BUT TWO DAYS AFTER THE KVUE
DEFENDERS EXPOSED THE
DEATH OF JAVIER AMBLER --
AND AMID A NATIONAL CONTROVERSY
THIS SUMMER
ABOUT POLICING IN AMERICA --
PRODUCERS ENDED THE
HIGHLY RATED CABLE SHOW.
WHEN THE STATE LEGISLATURE
CONVENES NEXT
MONTH -- LAWMAKERS PLAN TO BAN
SHOWS LIKE IT
FROM EVER PARTNERING WITH TEXAS
LAW ENFORCEMENT
LAW ENFORCEMENT
AGENCIES
AGENCIES AGAIN. "WHEN YOU WATCH THAT FOOTAGE, YOU CAN SEE THAT
THOSE DEPUTIES WERE BEING MORE
AGGRESSIVE
THAN THEY OTHERWISE WOULD HAVE,
AND THAT IS
BECAUSE THEY WERE MORE
INTERESTED IN BOOSTING THEIR
RATINGS THAN PROTECTING A
CITIZEN. THEY WERE MORE
INTERESTED IN BECOMING A REALITY
TV SHOW STAR
THAN SERVING OUR NEIGHBORS."
STATE REPRESENTATIV E JAMES
TALARICO,
TALARICO, A DEMOCRAT FROM ROUND ROCK, HAS FILED A BILL TO BAN REALITY TV CREWS FROM FILMING --
QUOTE -- "PEACE
OFFICERS WHILE ACTING IN THE
LINE OF DUTY FOR THE
PURPOSE OF CREATING A REALITY
TELEVISION
SHOW."
TELEVISION SHOW." THE BILL IS THE LATEST
DEVELOPMENT IN THE
AFTERMATH OF REPORTING BY THE
KVUE DEFENDERS,
WHICH FIRST OBTAINED THIS VIDEO
IN JUNE SHOWING
DEPUTIES USING TASERS ON AMBLER
AS HE CRIED THAT HE
HAD CONGESTIVE HEART FAILURE AND
COULD NOT
BREATHE.
HOUSE BILL 54 IS ALSO NAMED THE
JAVIER AMBLER LAW.
"OUR COMMUNITY FAILED HIM IN
THAT MOMENT,
BUT HOPEFULLY THROUGH
LEGISLATION LIKE THIS WE
CAN SAVE OTHERS WHO MIGHT BE
VICTIMS OF
POLICE VIOLENCE."
IN THE FOLLOWING MONTHS, WE ALSO
SHOWED
OTHER EXAMPLES OF CONTROVERSIAL
POLICING
TACTICS WHILE THE SHOW FILMED,
INCLUDING THIS
APPARENT MADE-FOR-TV NO-KNOCK
ARREST OF A
MAN WHO SAT PEACEFULLY IN COURT
HOURS EARLIER AND
OTHER FORCE ENCOUNTERS AIRED ON
THE SHOW.
IN SEPTEMBER, A WILLIAMSON
COUNTY GRAND JURY INDICTED
SHERIFF ROBERT CHODY ON AN
EVIDENCE TAMPERING
CHARGE FOR HIS ALLEGED ROLE IN
DESTROYING "LIVE PD"
FOOTAGE OF AMBLER'S DEATH. CHODY
WAS DEFEATED IN THE NOVEMBER
ELECTION. "THERE ARE SO MANY
FACETS THAT BEG FOR OUR
RESPONSE."
SENATOR JOHN WHITMIRE, THE
STATE'S LONGEST SERVING MEMBER
OF THE SENATE, SAID HE PLANS TO
PUSH FOR HIS COLLEAGUES IN THAT
CHAMBER TO PASS THE JAVIER
AMBLER LAW.
"NO DOUBT IN MY MIND OR ANY
REASONABLE PERSON WOULD THINK
THAT THAT HAD EVERYBODY
PERFORMING FOR THE CAMERAS
INSTEAD
INSTEAD OF DOING THEIR DUTY TO PROTECT THE PUBLIC INCLUDING MR. AMBLER."
AMBLER'S FAMILY APPROACHED
LAWMAKERS IN THIS SUMMER. THEY
HAD NOT KNOWN BEFORE THEN ABOUT
THE
DETAILS OF HIS DEATH. AMBLER'S
SISTER, KIM,
SAYS SHE AND HER PARENTS WANTED
TO DO SOMETHING
THAT WOULD HAVE A LASTING IMPACT
ON POLICING IN
TEXAS.
"IT MEANS A LOT TO ME AND MY
FAMILY. I FEEL LIKE IF LIVE PD
WAS NOT THERE THAT DAY, MY
BROTHER
BROTHER WOULD HERE TODAY. I HONESTLY BELIEVE THAT IN MY HEART. SO IN
ORDER NOT TO HAVE ANYONE DEAL
WITH THIS..I FEEL LIKE
POLICE WORK ISN'T
ENTERTAINMENT."
TALARICO SAYS HE'S HEARD FROM
LAWMAKERS ON
BOTH SIDES OF THE POLITICAL
AISLE INDICATING THAT
THEY'LL SUPPORT HIS BILL. HE
SAYS THOSE
LAWMAKERS SAY THAT THEY WANT
TEXANS TO HAVE CONFIDENCE IN
LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES. AT THE
STATE CAPITOL, FOR THE KVUE
DEFENDERS,
TONY PLOHETSKI, KVUE NEWS.