By Anne Berleant
The positive impact of law enforcement in the U.S is the focus of the series opener of Fox NATION’s “What Made America Great.”
In the episode, host Brian Kilmeade speaks with command and patrol officers from his hometown of Nassau County, Long Island, about how the public perception of police has changed from the aftermath of the 1992 Los Angeles riots, through 9/11 to the present day.
Following 9/11, “It became clear to the public how police put their lives on the line every day,” Kilmeade notes to NYPD Lt. Bernard Whalen, who is interviewed on the show.
“We were relatively popular for a short period of time,” Whalen responds. “Big-time actors were coming in shaking our hands, couldn’t wait to tell us how great we are. But somehow things got flipped.”
Law enforcement often runs in the family, being passed from father to son or daughter, and the series speaks to that family legacy with Nassau County, New York former police officer Steven McDonald and his son Connor McDonald.
Steven McDonald was paralyzed by a bullet in a 1986 duty incident a few months before Connor’s birth. Now Connor is training to become a law enforcement officer.
And in Connecticut, one father noted as his son entered the force: “I’m at the same time proud and little terrified because I know firsthand how dangerous the job can be.”
The feature also traces the early beginnings of the NYPD, from the “nightwatch” that began in the mid-1800s to the modern police force that serves New York today.
The series, which is in its ninth season, began streaming on Fox Nation on June 30. Learn more here.
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