As the debate over the policing of America continues to be a part of the daily conversation across the nation, A&E wants to offer viewers unfettered and unfiltered live access inside the country’s busiest police forces and the communities they patrol, in the new documentary series “Live PD.” The network has ordered eight, two-hour episodes of “Live PD,” which is produced for A&E Network by Big Fish Entertainment. The announcement was made today by Rob Sharenow, Executive Vice President and General Manager of A&E and Lifetime.
“Live PD” premieres Friday, October 28 at 9pm ET/PT.
“Every day the demands for more transparency in law enforcement continues to come from both civilians and police across the country,” said Sharenow. “‘Live PD’ will not only highlight the difficult work being done by our men and women in uniform as they go out into the streets never knowing what to expect, but also answers citizens’ calls for clarity.”
Over the course of eight weeks, dash cams along with fixed rig and handheld cameras, will capture the work of a varied mix of urban and rural police forces around the country on a typical Friday night. In-studio host, ABC’s Dan Abrams, alongside Dallas Police Department Detectives Rich Emberlin and Kevin Jackson will guide viewers through the night, giving insight to what audiences are seeing in real time, bouncing minute-by-minute between the featured police departments and offering an inside look at each live incident.
David Doss, former news executive producer at CNN, ABC and NBC, will serve as show runner for the series. Journalist Dan Abrams brings over 20 years of reporting and anchoring to the table and currently serves as the Chief Legal Analyst for ABC News. Detectives Kevin Jackson and Rich Emberlin have been partners for over two decades, having worked together in Patrol, SWAT, Criminal Intelligence, and Dignitary Protection Squad for Dallas PD.
“Live PD” will go beyond the linear experience, A&E promises. A live social media component will take audiences behind the scenes of the “Live PD” studio to pull back the curtain of what the network says will be a groundbreaking series.
As with many live events, due to the potential of capturing intense and possibly disturbing content, the program will air on a delay.
Executive producers for Big Fish Entertainment are Dan Cesareo, David Doss, George McTeague, Kara Kurcz and John Zito. Executive producers for A&E Network are Elaine Frontain Bryant, Shelly Tatro and Sean Gottlieb. A+E Networks holds worldwide distribution rights for “Live PD.”
