Baltimore Man Live-Streams Standoff with Officers

As heavily armed Baltimore Police tactical officers massed outside his North Baltimore home Saturday night, Frank James MacArthur streamed his hours-long telephone conversation with police negotiator Lt. Jason Yerg live over the Internet.

Screenshot via Twitter.Screenshot via Twitter.

As heavily armed Baltimore Police tactical officers massed outside his North Baltimore home Saturday night, Frank James MacArthur streamed his hours-long telephone conversation with police negotiator Lt. Jason Yerg live over the Internet.

It’s unclear how many people listened in, but the five-hour standoff nevertheless marked an apparently unprecedented development in the interaction of social media, digital technology and law enforcement, who are still adjusting to a world in which their actions are constantly photographed, videotaped and debated online.

By broadcasting the negotiation, MacArthur made public a sensitive conversation between police and a suspect, turning Yerg into an unwilling guest on a live talk show before peacefully surrendering in time for Saturday night’s 11 p.m. news broadcasts.

Read the full Washington Post story.

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