Last week, the Terre Haute Board of Public Works and Safety approved a one-year contract between the city and a real-time police show called “Live PD,” on the A&E Network.
Live camera crews will follow a select group of three to five officers who have agreed to be filmed on Friday and Saturday nights.
Terre Haute police chief Shawn Keen says the A&E Network first approached him in July.
“Essentially, it will film encounters with the public and the police from the time the call goes out to the time the call goes out until the time it’s resolved,” Keen says.
He says initially, he had some reservations about entering into a contract with the show. He wanted to feel comfortable that camera crews would be respectful of policies and laws that officers have to follow, like the Fourth Amendment.
But Keen says he thinks working with the show will ultimately benefit the community, in part by increasing transparency.
“We’re police, and we’re certainly capable of making mistakes just like anyone else,” he says. “But I think the transparency with this is just that. We’re willing to be open and share how that dynamic works between us and the community.”
Another reason is that he hopes it will help his department recruit more officers.
“The bottom line is, we’re getting fewer and fewer applicants and sometimes we have to think outside the box on how we’re going to market the police department to potential qualified applicants.”
Keen says the show will not film anywhere that is not open to the public.
He says different groups and individuals already follow some Terre Haute police officers now, filming them with their phones to produce videos.
“So, since that’s already occurring and since anyone can film the police in public, I was more open to the idea,” he says. “Once I understood these are going to be open places that anyone would be able to film, I felt more comfortable.”
Keen says the show usually works with eight different departments at a time, cutting between them when the show is being aired.
“It will be up to the production company what department they cut to during the live feeds on Friday and Saturday nights,” he says.
Keen says he doesn’t know when filming will start. Live PD production members did visit the city this week to get a feel for the city and the police department.
The Terre Haute Police Department’s contract does not involve Vigo County and the show will not have access to the dispatch center.
