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A reality TV collaboration between the action star and Arizona sheriff would be hilarious – if real law and order was not involved There are some news events that are simply beyond parody – when a current trend loses the plot so badly that you can do nothing but gasp in stunned amazement. But the invasion of ever more extreme reality television shows into modern American culture should be immune to this phenomenon. After all, this is a medium defined by demented Z-list wannabes trapped in an arms race of outrageousness designed to grab their 15 minutes of fame. In a post-Jersey Shore world surely nothing could emerge from reality TV that could actually shock? Well, not until now. This week, a bizarre incident unfolded in Phoenix , Arizona, involving 115 roosters, an out-of-control sheriff, several tanks, a Swat team, a suspected cockfighter, a bomb robot and – like a muscular, suntanned cherry on top of the whole pile – faded action star Steven Seagal. The setup was simple enough. Police suspected local man Jesus Sanchez Llovera, 43, of running an illegal cockfighting ring (the huge flock of roosters on his property no doubt being the clinching clue). So they decided to arrest him. While he was at home. Alone. Unarmed. With no police record of owning any weapons. Still, that should have been simple enough. A lone squad car, maybe two, could have done it. But things are rarely that simple with the sheriff of Maricopa County: the notoriously headline hungry figure of Joe Arpaio . For Arpaio’s department is working with Seagal, who is shooting a reality TV show and has signed up as a police volunteer. The show is called Lawman . So, instead of pulling up outside Llovera’s house and knocking on his door, Arpaio assembled a mini-army of police deputies, two armoured vehicles, a fully-armed Swat team and the bomb robot. They descended on Llovera’s house and smashed his windows, knocked down his gate with one of the tanks and arrested him. Seagal, dressed in combat fatigues and sunglasses and sporting a gun on his hip, was riding in one of the police tanks. Seagal’s film crew taped the whole thing. No doubt, after heavy editing, it will make for a few dramatic moments of television. The reasons to be stunned and shocked at this barely need describing and should appall anyone of any political background (which would be a rare thing in as polarised a state as Arizona). First off is the cost: across America, cities are slashing policing to the bone to cope with severe budget cuts. Yet, in Arizona, the needs of an ageing action star’s reality show resulted in a raid that some lawyers estimate would have cost thousands of dollars. Second, it has emerged that Seagal has a contract with the sheriff’s department that allows him free reign to go along on any arrests the sheriff makes. In a country notoriously – and often admirably – obsessed with individual freedoms and constitutional rights, why has so much privilege in the realm of law and order been granted to a reality TV star? Finally, there is the horrific blending of policing and entertainment that this incident represents. The two should be kept utterly apart. Here, they are not only mixed, but it appears that reality TV has the upper hand, calling the shots. Arpaio, for his part, denies staging the whole thing for Seagal and his show. What about Seagal’s thoughts? In his low, grumbling monotone, he explained to one local TV reporter the reasoning for his presence on the raid. “Animal cruelty is one of my pet peeves,” he said. That’s nice. But keeping idiotic reality TV shows away from the operation of a police force and the administration of justice is one of mine. Reality TV Arizona Animal welfare United States US television Paul Harris guardian.co.uk