It's a rare look at what police officers deal with in real time and one department in Northeast Ohio is laying it all on the line on national TV.
When the squad cars roll out from the Streetsboro Police Department Saturday night, the officers behind the wheel will have an extra set of eyes watching their interaction with the public they serve.
The department was not actively looking for attention, but when the TV show "Live PD" called, Police Chief Darin Powers tells News 5 he saw the benefit in being profiled.
"They ride with us, they don't create any type of narrative. We just do our job and they are there to document it," said Powers.
The up close and personal approach, which will be broadcast live in real time, is designed to help bridge the divide between police and the public.
"That relationship between the community and law enforcement has taken a bit of a hit," said Powers.
Powers likes the idea of total transparency.
"Doing something like Live PD, where the community can kind of feel like they're sitting in the passenger's seat with us, will do nothing but help that relationship," said Powers.
Streetsboro will be one of six cities the show will be checking in on periodically.
"You might see some traffic related incidents, shoplifter, maybe a domestic situation," said Powers.
Recently, the Tulsa Police Department backed out of the program after originally participating, saying it didn't like the way it was portrayed and that police work is already stressful enough and adding cameras didn't help.
Powers took all of that into consideration.
"We're going try it and see how it works for us, but as of right now our officers have been told we just go out there and do our job," said Powers.
Powers tells News 5 his officers are used to having their every move recorded. They have dash cams, body cams, and the public can record them at any time. He said the production crew is just an extension of that.
