Bay Shore teen in A&E's 'Runaway Squad'

Joe Mazzilli was a 15-year veteran with the NYPD who worked with the so-called "pimp squad," which is self-explanatory. Leaving the department, he started his own Manhattan-based private investigation firm, Protect-all Security Service. One of his specialties is runaways. Says he, "What -- me off is the way society looks at runaway children. They are forgotten." He does some pro-bono work in this area - and then there's this reality series.

VIDEO: Click here to watch a clip from the show

This episode: Yanite Pierre-Louis, a Bay Shore mother and immigrant from Haiti, hasn't seen her 15-year-old daughter, Tayvela, in nearly a year. The girl had gotten mixed up with gangs, was beaten and refused to press charges, which - per Mazzilli - is an obvious sign her disappearance was gang-related. It turns out, the girl was essentially kidnapped by the uncle of a so-called friend. Joe and his colleagues are on the case.

My say: If you get past this overheated title and the hard, cold fact that A&E - ahem - has been known to put on some unsavory reality slop on occasion, "Runaway Squad" is actually a good show. Tayvela could have been forgotten, and there appears to be little doubt by the evidence presented here that she would have remained forgotten except for Mazzilli and his knights. That said, you may wonder whether county cops pursued leads, or if child welfare services - or anyone else - was called in before A&E. Is that what it takes to save someone like Tayvela - the intercession of a reality show? That seems hard to believe. But Mazzilli is wonderfully convincing - he's a made-for-TV tough guy with arms the size of a Chevy and a demeanor that says, indisputably: Do not mess with me.

Bottom line: We have a new reality TV star. Joe, take a bow.

Grade: B