BREAKING: Lifetime picks up three new female cop pilots

Lifetime is ramping up its pilot orders, picking up three new cop drama projects from scribes Josh Berman ("Drop Dead Diva"), Annie Brunner ("Huff") and Jeffrey Bell ("V").

Pickups rep the first major programming announcement since Nancy Dubuc took over as president and GM of Lifetime Networks. Dubuc announced the orders Wednesday with Lifetime Entertainment exec VP JoAnn Alfano.

“With a strong foundation in scripted programming firmly established by 'Army Wives' and 'Drop Dead Diva,' Lifetime is aggressively expanding its drama series development plate with powerful programs from creative auspices who have strong pedigrees in producing stand-out programming,” Dubuc said. “These pilots developed by JoAnn and her team are the first steps we will take in bringing Lifetime’s scripted strategy to the forefront.”

Hour-long pilots in the works for 2011:

:: "Against the Wall," from Brunner, about a Chicago police woman who joins the Chicago Police Dept.'s Internal Affairs division -- causing a rift with her cop brothers.

:: "Exit 19" comes from Bell and exec producers Nina Wass and Gene Stein. Show, from ABC Studios and CBS TV Studios, centers on a single mother who juggles parenthood with her job as a New York Police Dept. cop.

:: Untitled Berman project, from Sony Pictures TV, centers on a San Diego police detective who's the mother of two and on the verge of divorce.

"Exit 19" has a lengthy development history, having first been set up at ABC for the 2006-2007 TV season. Project eventually moved to CBS, where it was shot as a pilot for fall 2008 with Geena Davis attached as star. When that version didn't pan out either, CBS TV Studios brought it to Lifetime.

“As Lifetime further ramps up its drama development slate, we plan to order additional pilots and series to keep building our growing stable of successful scripted programs next year and beyond," Alfano (left) said.

Other scripted projects in the works at Lifetime include an "Army Wives" spinoff, which, yes, also centers on a female police detective. Looks like Lifetime is pretty determined to get a femme-centric cop drama on the air.