Over the past few months, live-streaming video on social media has hit a critical mass. The stories have ranged from the absurd to the tragic, the local to the global. Just last week the tools shed light on a police-involved shooting and the attempted military coup in Turkey. Facebook Live and Periscope have given viewers an on-the-ground view of what’s happening in the world where television cameras haven’t been in the past.
But streaming video isn’t just for civilians — and it doesn’t only work on the ground.
LIVE on #Periscope: Over public square live on chopper https://t.co/3yUlWQ3DyE
— Cleveland Police (@CLEpolice) July 20, 2016
This week the Cleveland Police Department is engaging with large protests at the Republican National Convention. As is customary, it is using its helicopters to get a bird's-eye view of the situation (likely to report crowd movements to units on the ground).
But there’s something incredibly peaceful about looking at a city from above, as we can in this Periscope from the Cleveland PD. It’s encouraging to watch a streaming video involving the police and not see tanks in the streets or unjust acts of violence. It’s a not so subtle attempt by police to literally share their view with the people they're sworn to protect.