SIRENS, CAMERA, ACTION POLICING ENTERTAINMENT IN EAST PROVIDENCE
The sun is officially down, but a morose blue still lingers in the sky behind Sergeant Michael Rapoza. He’s driving somewhere, eyes forward, stern and focused. A camera films his profile. Rapoza speaks to the frame without turning his head. “We’re gonna go to this, uh, disturbance,” he says. Live PD cuts to a dark, gloomy yard in East Providence. Flashlights roam in and out of the camera frame as Sgt. Rapoza and the East Providence Police interview a man and a woman who have had a domestic dispute. The man wants the police to take the woman out of his house. The woman accuses him of being drunk. Sgt. Rapoza walks over to interview the woman while a younger, more apathetic officer, Ryan Cute, stays with the man. The man begins to rant. Somewhere in Manhattan, a team of editors cut out his curses as he unloads his troubles and biases. +++ For the producers of Live PD, this is expected content– segments of voyeuristic storytelling that make a particular episode good. On the ground in East Providence, however, these clips are more than just stories and often more than suburban interventions: they are filmed instances of police violence and surveillance. Because these interactions are broadcast as national television, Live PD provides the residents of East Providence with an opportunity to reckon with police interactions related specifically to privacy. +++ The man finishes his rant as Officer Cute looks off, tired. “Doesn’t sound like it’s going that well,” he says to the man. “No, it’s not. It’s been back and forth like this—but I love her; she loves me, you know–” “How long have you guys been together?” asks Cute. “Like four or five months, you know, it’s just crazy…” “Sounds like you’re in love,” says Cute. Cute’s delivery is like a punchline: sarcastic, welltimed. The man takes these words at face value, but like all forms of irony, the meaning is primarily aimed somewhere else. Watching Live PD on my computer, it is easy to see that Cute is working on two levels here: he’s responding to a man in East Providence while speaking to a national audience. "This is not love" is the subtext of Cute’s judgment. Beyond the word of law, beyond the testimonies of the man and the woman, Cute is offering a dramatic interjection. He’s playing to the camera. +++ According to Live PD's Head Producer Dan Cesareo, however, officers do not perform for the camera. In a 2015 interview following the show’s successful launch, Cesareo told IndieWire, “The cameras are there so much, and filming along a longer period of time, that people are who they are. Anyone who thinks they’re
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METRO
14 FEB 2020
