Across the United States every day, brave men and women in blue risk their lives to serve and protect all Americans. With daily headlines denouncing the negative and harmful acts of law enforcement, Investigation Discovery (ID) turns its cameras on the professionals to explore the critical role so many officers play in protecting and serving. Presented by legal analyst Rikki Klieman, IN THE LINE OF FIRE brings viewers into the heat of the moment to experience the stunning split-second decisions that changed the course of events and tells, first-hand, emotional stories of survival from the police officers themselves. IN THE LINE OF FIRE premieres exclusively on ID on Sunday, May 17 at 9/8c.
"Across America, the headlines are fraught with cases in which police officers have abused their authority. Fortunately, this is a very small percentage of cases, which more often than not overshadow the exceptional courage and kindness that a majority of the officers perform every day," said Henry Schleiff, Group President of Investigation Discovery, American Heroes Channel, Destination America,
Discovery Life Channel and
Discovery Family Channel. "For IN THE LINE OF FIRE, Rikki's investigation is a stark reminder that these police officers are merely ordinary people asked to do extraordinary things."
"These are the men and women in blue who answer the call to protect and serve. The overwhelming majority are decent, ethical and courageous. It is my honor to tell their stories," said Klieman.
In the special, IN THE LINE OF FIRE, Klieman travels coast to coast to uncover the dangers officers face every day in varied circumstances and the split second decisions that change lives. The stories featured in the special include:
Officer Ivan Marcano
New York Police Department (New York, NY)
On the night of October 24, 2012, off-duty officer Ivan Marcano was enjoying a date night with his girlfriend, Hilda Molina, in the Bronx when they witnessed three men robbing an elderly cab driver at gunpoint. Marcano immediately jumped out of the car with his gun drawn, flashing his badge to identify himself. The criminals refused to back down and fired multiple times at Marcano, as one of the bullets entered the left side of his chest, barely missing his heart. He retreated to the car as the robbers sped off in their getaway vehicle, but while en route to the hospital with Molina, came back across the criminals' getaway vehicle that had crashed into a cab. Though nearly fatally wounded, Officer Marcano jumped out of the car and continued his pursuit on foot while applying pressure to the bleeding injury. He managed to shoot one of the suspects dead, but the other two got away. Other officers take over the investigation, finding a second suspect the following day while the third turned himself in. Marcano and Molina finally made it to the hospital, where he made a full recovery. He was later awarded the Medal of Honor, NYPD's highest honor.
Officer Julie Olson
Maplewood Police Department (Maplewood, Minn.)
On September 7, 2009, Officer Julie Olson answered a call to assist North St. Paul Officer Richard Crittenden with a domestic situation. A woman had called the police concerned that her estranged husband had returned to her apartment and may still be inside. Officers Olson and Crittenden arrived to the scene at the same time and, as they entered the complainant's dark apartment, the suspect charged at them with a flaming rag. Officer Crittenden was struck in the face with and a struggle ensued between the suspect and two officers. The suspect was able to disarm Officer Crittenden and shoot him at pointblank, killing him instantly before turning the gun on Officer Olson. One round missed her but another hit her spare magazine, embedding shattered debris in enter her arm. Though injured, Officer Olson returned fire on the suspect, fatally wounding him, and was later awarded the Medal of Valor for going above and beyond the call of duty.
Sergeant Hector Feliciano
Los Angeles Police Department (Los Angeles, Cal.)
On the morning of November 9, 2004, at the Mexican Consulate in Los Angeles, 19-year-old Manuel Ortiz took a pregnant Consulate employee, Dunia Gonzalez, hostage at gunpoint. At that moment, Sgt. Hector Feliciano, a 22-year veteran of the LAPD, was in the right place at the right time to witness the ensuing panic and act quickly as the first responder. Taking cover in a nearby security booth that provided access to surveillance footage from multiple security cameras on the property, Sgt. Feliciano watched as Ortiz forced Gonzalez toward the exit with a gun pressed to her back. Sgt. Feliciano then made a bold and selfless decision to leave the security booth and put himself in the line of fire, following them toward a large crowd of onlookers and repeatedly demanding the gunman drop his weapon. Finally, as the gunman became distracted by the crowd, Sgt. Feliciano saw his chance and fired a single shot, hitting Ortiz and releasing the fearful hostage. He would later receive the Medal of Valor, LAPD's highest honor.
IN THE LINE OF FIRE is produced by Atlas Media with Bruce David Klein as executive producer, and Lorri Leighton and Lisa Bryant as co-executive producers. For Investigation Discovery, Thomas Cutler is the executive producer, Sara Kozak is senior vice president of production, Kevin Bennett is general manager and Henry Schleiff is Group President.
About Rikki Klieman
Television anchor, legal analyst, trial attorney, actress and best-selling author, Rikki Klieman has earned a sterling reputation as one of the nation's most
CELEBRATED lawyers and legal authorities. A dynamic and versatile communicator, Klieman found success in multiple fields, including television journalism, the courtroom, academia and public speaking. Klieman is currently a contributor and legal analyst for
CBS News. Previously, she was an anchor at Court TV, later Tru TV, and has been a contributor to the
CBS Early Show, NBC's Today Show and
E! Network. She has appeared as a legal analyst on NBC's Nightly News,
CBS Evening News, ABC, CNN,
CNBC and MSNBC, and was named by TIME Magazine as one of the top five female trial lawyers in the country. She also authored her autobiography, "Fairy Tales Can Come True - How a Driven Woman Changed Her Destiny," which reached the Los Angeles Times Best Seller List. Klieman is married to William Bratton, current NYPD Police Commissioner, and resides in New York City.
About Atlas Media
Founded in 1989, Atlas Media Corp is one of the world's leading independent multi-platform producers of non-fiction television series, specials, theatrical documentaries and digital entertainment. Atlas combines the substantial resources of a mini-studio with the personal, passionate vision of a filmmaker. For nine years in a row (2006 - 2014), RealScreen magazine has named Atlas to its prestigious annual Global 100 list of the largest and most influential producers of non-fiction entertainment in the world. Atlas' ratings-grabbing, award-winning productions has been broadcast on a variety of networks, including
E! Entertainment, MTV, Discovery Channel, National Geographic Channel, HGTV, TLC, History, GSN, WE, and multiple series on
Investigation Discovery including "Stalked: Someone's Watching" and "Frenemies: Loyalty Turned Lethal."
About Investigation Discovery
Investigation Discovery (ID) is the leading mystery-and-suspense network on television and America's favorite "guilty pleasure." From harrowing crimes and salacious scandals to the in-depth investigations and heart-breaking mysteries that result, ID challenges our everyday understanding of culture, society and the human condition. One of our nation's fastest growing cable networks, ID delivers the highest-quality programming to more than 86 million U.S. households and is available in both high definition (HD) and standard definition (SD). For more information, please visit InvestigationDiscovery.com, facebook.com/InvestigationDiscovery, or twitter.com/DiscoveryID.
Investigation Discovery is part of Discovery Communications (Nasdaq: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK), the world's #1 pay-TV programmer reaching nearly 3 billion cumulative subscribers in 220 countries and territories.
