'On Patrol: Live' back with WBPD tonight -- here's how to watch

Jan. 14—WILKES-BARRE — It's Friday night, and WBPD is back on the airwaves.

"On Patrol: Live" airs Friday and Saturday nights at 9 p.m. on the Reelz network.

The network's website, reelz.com, includes a channel finder for viewers to find Reelz on their cable provider.

After their debut on the Reelz Network TV show "On Patrol: Live" captivated viewers across the valley and across the country, the Wilkes-Barre City Police Department will be back on the show on a recurring basis, according to Mayor George Brown and Police Chief Joe Coffay.

"On Patrol: Live," which features live footage from local police departments as their officers work shifts, will continue to shadow officers from Wilkes-Barre City on Friday and Saturday nights for an "undetermined" amount of time, according to Brown and Coffay.

A representative from the public relations firm that handles press inquiries for "On Patrol: Live" explained that, while the show typically works with police departments "for an 8-12 week period," each department is different and some continue to work with the show beyond that period.

Mayor Brown expressed his pleasure with the city police department's initial appearances on the show.

"We're very happy to highlight the police force on a national scale," Brown said in an interview on Tuesday. "We're very proud of what they do, and we want the public to see what the chief and I see."

The announcement that Wilkes-Barre PD would be featured on the show was made last Thursday, one day before the department was featured for the first of two consecutive nights.

Chief Coffay said that the show reached out to the city after one of the show's producers, who was familiar with the area, saw a segment about the department on the local news.

"He saw a segment with one of our K-9 officers on Channel 28 [WBRE/WYOU-TV]," Coffay said. "They were looking for a mid-sized city in Pennsylvania, so we took them on a ride around the city."

Right from the first episode, viewers got to see first-hand how the department not only works under pressure, but how officers from Wilkes-Barre City were able to respond to a neighboring municipality and offer assistance to officers from Wilkes-Barre Township and from the Pennsylvania State Police.

A call in the township for shots fired into a home on Marcy Street turned into a standoff that lasted through Friday night into Saturday morning, resulting in a man taken into custody. No shots were fired by police throughout the incident, and no injuries were reported other than two officers being struck with birdshot.

A scene like Friday night's is a window into what officers from his department deal with on a daily basis, according to Coffay.

"That is just a snapshot of what our officers do ... it's a busy department," Coffay said. "Departments depend on each other, that's an everyday thing."

The following night featured a Wilkes-Barre City patrol car being struck by another vehicle. Chief Coffay said that the officer who was in the car at the time of the accident suffered a minor concussion but was otherwise okay. No injuries were reported from the two crew members from "On Patrol: Live" who were also in the squad car.

Crews from "On Patrol: Live" ride along in the backseat of police vehicles to give viewers an up-close look at the officers as they make their rounds on patrol.

It may be close quarters, but Coffay explained that the camera crews didn't interfere with his officers, and no operational changes had to be made as a result of the crew's presence.

"They're observers, nothing more," Coffay said.

Coffay said that, while the city is not being directly compensated for its appearance on the television show, the department would be covered on individual expenses that may come up during the course of filming.

In addition to the exposure that this opportunity has brought to the department, Coffay also noted that "On Patrol: Live" runs segments on their broadcast highlighting wanted individuals and missing children, bringing more light to those types of cases.

"They've already had a lot of success working with the Center for Missing and Exploited Children," Coffay said of the show.

Mayor Brown said that he viewed the experience as a positive one, and shared the chief's vision that being on the show would show the public just how strong the Wilkes-Barre City police force is.

"I think it's very positive," Brown said. "It shows the training our officers go through and the situations that they deal with on a nightly basis. I've said it before, but I believe we have the best police force in the state of Pennsylvania."