London ? More than 3 million people in Britain watched on live television as Derren Brown held a gun to his head and fired three times, then turned the weapon away and appeared to blow a hole in a sandbag with the next round.

Brown, who claims to be a mind control expert, said he could read the thoughts of the volunteer who placed the gun’s single bullet in a numbered chamber. But police say his game of Russian roulette wasn’t what it seemed — special effects were used, and the gun held only a blank.

On the island of Jersey in the English Channel, where the show was made, Deputy Chief Officer Lenny Harper said Britain’s Channel 4 television informed his department of the stunt in advance and used a prop gun that did not contain any real bullets.

“Whether or not we approve or condone that sort of TV is not our business,” he said. “We knew and we were satisfied that no one was in danger and it was simply a magical illusion.”

While some blank ammunition can kill if fired close enough to the body, Harper said the blank Brown used did not pose any danger.

“There is absolutely no way that the States of Jersey police would allow anybody to put themselves at risk and shoot themselves dead,” Harper said. “This program was made by a TV company very experienced in pyrotechnics, in making smoke and bullet holes appear. It was no different to film, which uses special effects.”

Before the police statement, many were angered by Sunday’s broadcast of “Derren Brown Plays Russian Roulette Live,” saying the program glamorized guns and suicide and could prompt children to play Russian roulette.

“It sends entirely the wrong message,” said Rick Naylor, chief superintendent of the South Yorkshire police and vice president of the Police Superintendents’ Assn. “You’re going to get copycat kids doing this, and we’re possibly going to end up with some tragedies.”

Channel 4 said on its Web site that Brown had picked the volunteer who supposedly placed the bullet in his gun from among 12,000 applicants.

“A single bullet was placed into a numbered chamber, unseen by Derren, who then put the gun to his head,” the Web site said.

It said Brown had used “his famous ability to read people to determine which chamber contains the bullet.”

Brown, 32, has made several hourlong specials for Channel 4 and a series in which he purported to use his mind to get people to do things, such as raising their hands.