Williamson County Commissioners Court votes to end county's 'Live PD' relationship
GEORGETOWN, Texas (FOX 7 Austin) - Viewers won't be seeing Williamson County Sheriff's deputies on the popular national television show "Live PD" anymore.
After a fiery meeting, this morning the Commissioners Court unanimously voted to sever the contract between the county and producers of the show, that follows deputies on patrol.
Ahead of the vote, most of the discussion from the community was about actions taken by WCSO Commander Steve Deaton — including a series of Facebook posts some see as offensive and racist. One of which was allegedly "liked" by County Judge Bill Gravell.
Gravell says that was a mistake: he didn't look at the full image Deaton had posted. Gravell has since called Deaton an "embarrassment" to the county and urges him to step down from the Sheriff's Office. The Sheriff's office says Deaton is still employed there.
As far as the Live PD agreement, District Attorney Shawn Dick expressed concerns that Live PD was deleting video his office needed for criminal cases.
When it came time to vote on severing the contract, it was quick and unanimous.
"You're taking possibly innocent people and putting them into the limelight. Innocent until proven guilty," said Neitha Engert, speaking about Live PD.
"I would hope that we just watched people say that there's stuff in Williamson County that needs to be hidden and that we need to now vote these people out. Because the cameras are showing the truth," said Kelly Appice, who belongs to a more than 4,000-member Facebook fan group of Wilco's partnership with Live PD.
The County says the Live PD contract will end in 30 days.
Sheriff Robert Chody was unavailable to comment today.
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