The BEST Episodes of Cops
Every episode ever - ranked by fan votes!
Last Updated: Jan 6, 2022
Network: Paramount Network
COPS is one of the first (and only) true and UNSCRIPTED reality shows, it follows the activities of police officers by embedding camera crews with police units. The show’s formula follows the Cinéma vérité convention, with no narration or scripted dialog, depending entirely on the commentary of the officers and on the actions of the people with whom they come into contact. COPS has followed officers in 140 different cities in the United States and also has been shot in Hong Kong, London, and the former Soviet Union. Each episode is approximately 22 minutes in length and typically consists of three segments, with each segment being one or two self-contained police incidents.
#2 - Arizona 7
Season 13 - Episode 33 - Aired Apr 28, 2001
A suspect ditches a stolen bike and flees into the Arizona desert; officers find an intoxicated stripper on a hallway floor.
8.57 
#3 - High Times Special Edition
Season 17 - Episode 23 - Aired Apr 9, 2005
(Pierce County WA - 1:43 AM Public Disturbance Call) South Hill Precinct – Deputy Patrick Davidson works the beat area where there’s not many cops, but lots of tweakers and dopeheads. He goes to a hotel on the call of Tim who is really wasted in Apt 21. When Pat arrives Tim takes off and is caught around back. Deputy Eugene Abaun assists. Tim ran because he thought they were trying to hit him, so he threw everything. He was high on coke and was going out to score. He’s been awake for 4-5 days, is barefoot, can’t walk because he has football feet. He’s not on probation, on bond. He’s done coke all day since he was 26 years old. He doesn’t deal, lost his pipe and is bi-polar. The landlord wants him out. Christine can drive him away because it’s not a crime to be high. So they let him go. The owner says he was wandering up and down knocking on doors last night. He told him to stay inside and wants him out tomorrow. He throws his stuff in a garbage bag and leaves. Santa Ana, CA – Officer Garry Caruso grew up around police since his dad was a cop. He saw it, heard stories and it sounded like fun. He wasn’t pushed into it. (1:38 AM Street Patrol) They drive an unmarked car into a known gang alley where they go to do and sell drugs. They go after a white El Camino with guys inside and catch them. The driver, Kevin, is an old white guy. The passenger is a young Hispanic. They go to pull the young guy out and he tries to swallow the drugs and they choke it out of him and cuff him. Officer Mary Campuzano was first on the scene. Kevin is on parole for a possession charge in 1998. He was going to pick up a girl named Shasta and the young guy just got in his car because he needed a ride. He saw he had drugs and he told him to get rid of them. Both go to jail. Las Vegas – South East Area Command - Officer Gibron Smith loves Vegas, but it gets hot – over 110 degrees and stays like that for months. It gets real hot on 4 hours of calls outside of your car. Sg
8.42 
#4 - Pierce County, WA 34
Season 13 - Episode 32 - Aired Apr 28, 2001
8.40 
#5 - Denver, CO 3
Season 5 - Episode 18 - Aired Jan 9, 1993
Denver police answer a call in which a father has stabbed his son; a disturbance call in a bar; a hit-and-run driver is identified and arrested
8.30 
#6 - Virginia Beach, VA 5
Season 11 - Episode 11 - Aired Nov 21, 1998
8.29 #7 - Alaska 2
Season 3 - Episode 8 - Aired Nov 3, 1990
A state trooper helps recover the body of a drowned boy; a call on a drunken 5-year-old.
8.20 
#8 - Mardi Gras 1995 2
Season 8 - Episode 23 - Aired Feb 24, 1996
New Orleans mounted officers conduct crowd control during Mardi Gras; a U.S. Navy sting operation to protect sailors on shore leave.
8.14 
#9 - Coast to Coast 84
Season 18 - Episode 11 - Aired Dec 10, 2005
An officer stops a vehicle for a missing tail light and quickly discovers the driver is hiding a jar of methamphetamine.
8.08 
#10 - Turbo Charged
Season 27 - Episode 23 - Aired Jan 17, 2015
An extremely understanding cop gives a resistant suspect too many chances. A driver reminds us why we should never let a friend borrow our car. A man with a supped-up vehicle tells an awful lie to police.
8.07 
#12 - Smooth Criminal
Season 24 - Episode 3 - Aired Sep 24, 2011
The Boynton Beach, FL, Police Department conducts an undercover operation involving a woman who has allegedly hired a hit man to kill her husband. While posing as the hit man, an undercover officer has a candid conversation during which the woman details the situation. Following the conversation, the police department sets up a mock-crime scene so that when the suspect arrives home, she will think that her plan has been completed. To her surprise, she is taken into custody by the police and eventually arrested for solicitation of first-degree murder
8.06 
#13 - Kansas City 1
Season 4 - Episode 1 - Aired Aug 10, 1991
Officer Kevin Tempel responds to a drive by shooting where one of the victims says five women in a blue Malibu followed and shot them with a 12 gauge shotgun. Officer Scott Caron arrests two men after loss prevention staff at a supermarket catches them on video stealing cartons of Camel cigarettes. Officers climb onto the roof of a house to arrest a man after he destroyed everything inside.
8.00 
#14 - Nashville, TN 4
Season 6 - Episode 4 - Aired Aug 28, 1993
Nashville, Tenn., officers attempt to control a crowd after a violent fight; an elderly woman's car is stuck on railroad tracks.
8.00 
#15 - Jacksonville, FL 8
Season 13 - Episode 13 - Aired Dec 16, 2000
From Jacksonville, Florida. A neighborhood resident complains of male prostitution and officers remove a snake from a woman's home.
8.00 
#16 - Memphis, TN 1
Season 4 - Episode 19 - Aired Jan 11, 1992
(Narcotics Unit Briefing) Detective Leo Hampton says there is a 65 & 63 year old white couple selling pot out of their house and he wants to get them all in one room. They bought from the woman before and she is supposed to have 4 or 5 pounds of marijuana there. 10:07 PM they head out and he says she is known to carry a .22 and is not afraid to use it. (10:17 PM Warrant Served) Elderly couple distributed narcotics; assault.
8.00 
#17 - Coast to Coast 103
Season 18 - Episode 32 - Aired Jun 10, 2006
A car chase in Pittsburgh ends badly; a nude female victim in Spokane.
8.00 
#18 - El Paso, TX 5
Season 6 - Episode 30 - Aired Mar 5, 1994
Burglary in progress call. A couple of 911 calls on fights between neighbors.
8.00 
#19 - Palm Beach County, FL 1
Season 11 - Episode 17 - Aired Jan 30, 1999
8.00 
#20 - Jacksonville, FL 11
Season 13 - Episode 16 - Aired Jan 20, 2001
A viewer recognizes a suspect and alerts police; a suspect admits to having a gun in his car; police discover a crack house.
8.00 
#21 - Pierce County, WA 35
Season 13 - Episode 34 - Aired May 5, 2001
8.00 
#22 - Eye in the Sky
Season 27 - Episode 27 - Aired Feb 14, 2015
A jaywalker darts on a mad dash through the weeds; things go badly for a suspect on a stolen motorcycle when choppers help officers track him down; a domestic dispute leads cops to a slew of unexpected crimes.
7.99 
#23 - Cheek to Cheek
Season 30 - Episode 32 - Aired May 14, 2018
A traffic stop takes an unexpected turn when the suspect decides to go off-roading. A woman refuses to cover for her son’s friend. Security cameras catch a man trying to conceal some items in a not-so-nice hiding place.
7.97 
#24 - Between a Bush and a Hard Place
Season 29 - Episode 19 - Aired Nov 5, 2016
A car chase switches gears when the driver flees on foot; tempers flare between neighbors after some kids get physical; a nervous driver becomes irate when the police search his passenger.
7.94 
#25 - Kiss and Make Up
Season 30 - Episode 31 - Aired May 7, 2018
A motorcyclist leads officers on a chase down city streets. Even a dead car battery doesn’t stop a grieving man from eluding the police. A jumpy driver fails to avoid the cops and gives an awkward apology to his girlfriend.
7.93