Calvert County Sheriff’s Office featured on A&E’s “Live PD”
Prince Frederick, MD – Viewers of a television documentary series got a glimpse into the routine police work conducted by deputies from the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office on Feb. 3 and 4. The Arts and Entertainment (A&E) channel’s multi-part series, “Live PD” featured a segment of the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office in action.
“A&E will offer viewers unfettered and unfiltered live access inside the country’s busiest police forces and the communities they patrol,” the channel states on its web site.
Captain Dave Payne of the sheriff’s office said agency officials met with Live PD producers and agreed to have the production crew come to Calvert to feature segments of deputies out in the field. Payne, who is commander of the local sheriff’s office’s Patrol Division, said the agency didn’t announce the arrangement ahead of time because participation a few years ago involving another police reality show led to individuals going to the live locations in hopes of getting on camera.
Payne told TheBayNet.com the episode includes pre-taped segments that have been edited into the broadcast along with “live” segments, which are delayed for approximately a half-hour. Sheriff’s department supervisors have access to the live footage and if they feel it is warranted, may contact A&E producers to have portions killed.” During the Friday night broadcast, Calvert deputies question a 16-year-old about a campfire that started in the southern portion of the county. Deputies are also recorded as they come to the assistance of a woman who is determined to be intoxicated while driving a van.
How was Calvert County selected to be spotlighted on national television? “They called us,” said Payne. “It’s the same production company that we worked with before.” Speaking to the benefits this exposure gives the citizens of Calvert County, Payne stated, “The Sherriff’s idea was to provide transparency. It shows the types of incidents we investigate.”
Payne expressed confidence that the broadcast segments yielded no legal issues for the local sheriff’s office. For one thing, the program’s producers “have a team of lawyers who vet all the content.” Nevertheless, the sheriff’s office did receive at least one complaint from a woman who found herself caught unwittingly on camera.
Word of the broadcast spread on social media and prompted some comments about what was aired.
“We [Calvert County] were the quietest of them all,” said Calvert County Commissioner Mike Hart [R-D1] about the broadcast. Speaking about the A&E broadcast during his weekly commissioner’s report, Hart added that the Live PD segments involving the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office “Demonstrate that we don’t have a lot of the situations other communities have.”
Contact Marty Madden at marty.madden@thebaynet.com