There’s a new cop patrolling the beat in Warren … and maybe on televisions everywhere.

The first three episodes of “Bando,” a police drama created by 1998 LaBrae High School graduate Ryan Freeman, will premiere Saturday at Boardman Movies 8, and the plan is to have all episodes of the limited series available on streaming channel Tubi in early 2026.

Freeman has worked as a cinematographer and in various roles on other people’s projects, but this is the one he’s developed on his own as creator, writer and executive producer. For “Bando” he drew upon his own experience and family history.

“I worked at the (Mahoning County) Sheriff’s Department quite some time back,” he said. “I ended up leaving there and becoming a barber, but being a cop was always one of my passions. My father was a police officer, my cousin’s a sheriff deputy, so being a cop was one of my passions.”

“Bando” is a story of a veteran cop nicknamed “Bando” because she was abandoned as a child. She works the west side of Warren and is looking to retire when she is partnered with a rookie cop looking to change the system.

“They both find themselves entangled in a citywide scheme of gentrification, corruption and street justice,” Freeman said. “At the end of it all, they both must decide what side of the law that they’re on. It’s like you’re either gonna be on this side or you’re gonna be on that side. That’s pretty much the gist of the story.”

Freeman drew on a local talent pool but also brought in actors from Cleveland and Detroit for the project. Working on a limited budget and shooting in areas not used to film and television production came with its challenges.

“If you’re not Spike Lee or somebody like (Stephen) Spielberg, they don’t want to hear it,” Freeman said.

The biggest lesson he learned from helming his own project was, “When you hire people, they got to be self-motivated, they gotta have the same ambition you have,” he said. “If they don’t see the vision, they’re not going to be in it as much as you are with it.

“You really got to just get people that this is what they do for a living. You’ll hire someone to do a shoot, then the day of the shoot comes up, and they’ll just cancel on you. They don’t realize how important it is. You can’t cancel at the last minute, because if one actor don’t show, it’s messed up. You got to reshoot.”

Saturday’s premiere will start with a red carpet at 5:30 p.m. and the screening at 7 p.m. An afterparty will feature food and a DJ and give attendees a chance to mingle with the cast and crew.

Freeman said he expects to finish the fourth and final episode in November.

“I have a distribution company out of Detroit that’s going to get it streaming on Tubi for me, hopefully, beginning of the year.”

If you go …

WHAT: Premiere of “Bando”

WHEN: 7 p.m. Saturday with red carpet at 5:30 p.m.

WHERE: Boardman Movies 8, 469 Boardman-Poland Road

HOW MUCH: $20