The Calhoun County Sheriff’s Department to be featured on a Belgium TV show

CALHOUN COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – The television crew will be on patrol in eight countries.

A Belgium TV crew is in Calhoun County this week filming the sheriff’s department.

It’s a part of a new TV show that will be airing in Belgium next year.

The eight episode series spotlights how different police forces operate across the world.

The Calhoun County Sheriff’s Department will be featured.

The show is called Andy on Patrol and it will air on VTM, the main commercial television station in Belgium.

“Why would someone from Brussels want to come to Calhoun County?” 

A Calhoun County sheriff’s deputy is the connection.

A trip to Europe led him to meeting Brussels K-9 patrol officer and local TV star, Andy Peelman.

About six months ago, an idea for a new show called Andy On Patrol came up, but before it could happen, it had to be sold.

“And then, we came up with Greg and his crew and so we made a pilot, an episode,  just 20 to 25 minutes to show the channel how we liked it to be done and they bought the program and now, we’re here back for another five more days to shoot,” says show host, Andy Peelman. 

Sheriff Greg Pollan also had to be sold on the idea before any filming could get started.

“After exchanging emails with Andy and him explaining it to me that this would be done in a very professional manner to shed a positive light on law enforcement, not just in Calhoun County, not just in Mississippi, but all around the world.”

The crew will be on patrol in eight countries.

“Here, when I’m going on patrol with Jimmy, he knows everybody. He knows that guy is going over there. That guy went over there. So, that’s wonderful. If you go to New York, for example, they don’t know everybody.”

“Each force has its own needs. Its own specific problems and they address it in a certain way. There’s always something to learn from that,” says Andy on Patrol Director, Dennis Venslembrouck. 

Venslembrouck says there’s a lot to be learned from Calhoun County.

“The size here is about as big as the entire capital of Europe, Brussels. That’s the size that they are covering with 2 to 3 police, so it’s pretty amazing and they have to do it alone. Where in Brussels, you have like an enormous force to cover that area.”

The crew will be in Calhoun County for the next five days.

Some of the countries that will be featured on the show include South Africa and Romania.