The Yukon RCMP have officially pulled the plug on a reality TV show set to focus on Yukon Mounties.

The show began filming Aug. 10 – much to the dismay of many community groups concerned about using policing as a form of entertainment.

The production was suspended six days later.

Today, police announced they would be pulling out of the project completely.

In an interview with the Star, the RCMP's David Gilbert said police still believe there's value in showing the public a behind-the-scenes view of their work.

But the overwhelmingly negative public response shows a television series was clearly not the right path to take.

"Fundamentally, we still think there was merit in the idea,” he said.

"This was not the right time, and maybe not the right way, but there are still stories that need to be told, and they may not be the ones members of the public were concerned about.”

When news broke that an American production company, True Entertainment, was going to be filming Mounties in the territory, community groups raised concerns about the exploitative nature of television.

One incident two weeks ago, where a woman was arrested downtown with cameras rolling, was witnessed by former Yukon MP Audrey McLaughlin, who questioned the value of the show.

Based on the public reaction to the filming, "this way clearly wasn't going to work,” Gilbert said.

The police were able to walk away from the show without any penalty because of a termination clause that was deliberately written into the contract during the negotiations, he added.

Police had the right to walk away, scot-free, for any reason.

"As a public institution, we couldn't be bound by something that the public wouldn't support,” Gilbert said.

As for the small amount of footage already filmed, Gilbert said there wasn't enough collected to be very useful.

"Some of the situations the public was reacting to would never have made it through the editing process,” he said.

Under the agreement, the police were able to view any episodes prior to air and request changes.

Anyone filmed for the show was also required to sign a waiver. If the document wasn't signed, the footage would never be seen, the production company insists.

Gilbert said the same rules still apply to anything that was caught on camera even though the show has been stopped.

That means if the production company wants to use the footage for any other project, the RCMP's approval is still required.

"Any material that was shot isn't going to be used,” Gilbert said.

There are lessons to be learned from what happened.

"Maybe we moved too quickly,” he said.

"We recognize the value in taking more time to help people understand what we were trying to do.... Some of it was misperceived.”

Even now, Gilbert said, calling the project a reality show leads to the wrong sorts of comparisons to some of the trashier shows on television.

He insists this show was planned to be more of a documentary series highlighting the work done by police in the Yukon, and other positive stories.