'COPS' TO PUT HEGE IN SPOTLIGHT

LEXINGTON -- Davidson County Sheriff Gerald Hege's brand of crime-fighting
- -- military-style uniforms and machine guns, high-speed chases in souped-up
cars and pink jail cells -- will be featured on the television show "COPS,"
which will begin filming here in the next few days.

The Fox network show, which usually spotlights crime fighting in urban
areas, will film for the first time in North Carolina.

Crews will follow Davidson deputies for eight weeks as they perform their
duties across 560 square miles of farmland, manufacturing plants, sleepy
communities and burgeoning suburban developments just outside Guilford and
Forsyth counties. An undetermined number of episodes will air during the
show's 15th season, which begins in September. Hege is not new to national
television.

For two years, he hosted his own show on Court TV. "Inside Cell Block F"
was a sort of Donahue-in-prison, broadcast live from Hege's jail -- which
he painted pink to make inmates feel like "sissies" -- and giving the
captive audience of stripe-clad inmates a chance to speak out.

"Inside Edition" anchor Deborah Norville spent time in the jail billed as
the "toughest in America." Hege also has appeared on several national
shows, including "Larry King Live," "Today," "20-20" and "America's Most
Wanted."

He installed permanent TV lights in his office for almost daily press
conferences.

Hege said he doesn't expect to be a dominant player in the "COPS" shows.
"My style of law enforcement obviously led ("COPS" producer Jimmy Langley)
to coming here to see what we have, but it's not about me," Hege said.
"It's about our deputies and how they do their jobs."

Hege said Langley, who is the nephew of "COPS" founder and executive
producer John Langley, was in Davidson County a few weeks ago for a brief
visit.

He quickly developed a feel for the turf of the controversial Hege and got
a close look at law enforcement in the county.

As he accompanied deputies patrolling a public housing community about 2
a.m. one morning, they approached a man standing on a corner.

"He wouldn't reveal what he had in his pockets," Hege said. A scuffle
ensued and a crowd gathered, and Langley stepped in to assist the deputies.

Later that morning, Langley helped deputies involved in a foot chase with a
suspect, Hege said. No one was injured in either incident.