Why is My City Always Featured on Cops?

Every Saturday night at 8:00 PM I grab the television remote in order to tune in Globetrekker on PBS. Inevitably as I'm flipping through the channels to get to the right one, we see a blurb about Cops and its trademark theme song starts. I pause for a bit because who doesn't like to bop to reggae for at least 15 seconds? And then...

The very first city that usually shows up in the graphics on the screen reads "Portland, Oregon". Why? And it's usually drug deals, public displays of drunkenness, domestic abuse or kids fighting. Here's an example of a typical scene...

"I don't know why he came up and bashed me in the head with the metal pipe, officer, I was just minding my own business," says guy #1, bleeding all over the sidewalk.

"He took my crack!" screams guy #2, eyes bulging.

"So, you're saying the crack was yours," states the officer.

"Not really. I don't know where the crack came from," replies guy #2.

"I do!" yells guy #1.

Bleep, bleeping, bleep goes the television while guy #2 lunges for guy #1. Yikes!

I just want to do a voice over at this moment during the program saying "Portland was recently voted one of the most walkable cities in the U.S. In addition, Portlanders enjoy their friendly city that boasts one of the world's largest test rose gardens as well as authentic Japanese and Chinese gardens. Nestled between Mt. Hood and the Pacific Ocean, Portland lends itself to active lifestyles."

But until I am television queen for a day, I will have to settle on briefly watching crack deals gone bad on a Saturday night.