Lip Sync Videos

[TheNewbie]

Law Enforcement lip sync videos are all the rage now. Personally, as a an officer, it embarrasses me and I find them silly. However, a lot of officers like them and the public seems to really enjoy them.

I admit some of them are creative and even funny, but at the end I still feel dumb for having viewed them and embarrassed as well.

Maybe I am an old stick in the mud in early training.


What are your thoughts on these videos?


Edit to add- even non LEOs should feel free to vote if they would like too.

[txdpd]

Personally I think they are stupid and embarrassing.

I voted for a) mostly because it shows the cop haters that they can’t win.

[Lon]

I think they’re stupid as hell. If any police brass think they’re gonna miraculously change people’s minds about LE just because of a stupid video, then those brass are stupid as hell. Haters are gonna hate, LE supporters are gonna get a kick out of the videos, but won’t hate us if we don’t do one. So far there’s not enough people at my agency that want to do it so it’s not been an issue. Most of us think they’re dumb.

[FNFAN]

I thoroughly enjoy them. I think they are helpful in portraying LE as human beings rather than figureheads for oppression. I enjoy the hell out seeing some stern looking detective bust a move. Plus some of the patrol pixies...

[Trooper224]

In 59 working days I'll no longer be part of a profession that condones this cake eating bull shit, what a relief.

[Bigghoss]

I kinda enjoy them and I think they're probably good PR. Obviously you're not going to win over the radical anti-cop folks but maybe somebody on the fence might soften their opinion of police.

I get some of the arguments against them. They maybe aren't the best use of time and they can make police look unprofessional/soft. Everything's a tradeoff and it's entirely possible that this whole thing will totally backfire. Most likely it's a little of both.

I have never been a police officer but I have known many. However I am an armed security guard and when I'm at the gates checking IDs I often get people who despise us for no real reason. I guess they just hate the idea of having to stop and show their ID or something. So I kinda understand how it feels to just be doing your job and following the rules and have people be dicks about it, and why people wearing the badge would want to try to change that. Every day I fight the urge to become the dick they think I am.

[LockedBreech]

I am casual friends with a local deputy from my prosecutor days who had one of the more viral of them (several million views) and was the chatter of the town for a few days. My impression was that you had the usual jerks with their so-funny, so-original comments about pigs, bacon, taxpayer dollars, etc. You're always gonna have those. You had the super positive, super hardcore friends-and-family-of-blue segment, which I am a part of, you're always gonna have those too. So what's interesting is seeing how people with no particular stake react. And from those people, I think it's positive. It puts a minor bit of celebrity and real names on their local LEO, and I'm sure a few people were like "hey, I got stopped by the lip sync guy!"

I don't think there's any risk of people thinking police are too soft and cuddly with the fear-the-evil-racist-police narrative the media has been force-feeding.

In a day and age where there is a constant media onslaught of the negative about police, I really don't think a little warmer PR hurts, and may in fact help quite a bit. If it helps a small handful of officers have a better rapport with a small handful of citizens, that's a good enough result. The ones who hate cops aren't going to hate them less or more.

Edit:

On a slightly amusing note, a different LE friend I asked about this said her agency MADE the officers participate. That I very much am against. Wrestling with meth heads and domestic abusers is more than enough job responsibility.

[JR1572]

We were told yesterday that we could do a video. Everyone on my shift declined to participate.

JR1572

[peterb]

One department did a lip sync video targeting domstic abuse. Apparently it generated a lot of positive responses from viewers and motivated some victims to ask for help.

https://patch.com/georgia/canton-ga/lip-sync-challenge-provides-sobering-reminder-domestic-abuse

“The Pickens Sheriff's Office said it wanted to use the challenge to not only show its agency's lighthearted nature, but also draw attention to some of the calls and situations those in law enforcement respond to on a daily basis.”

[Dagga Boy]

I did this yesterday. It’s been shared a lot. Apparently; I am not the only one who feels this way.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1474749495959830&substory_index=0&id=289679681133490

[Hambo]

My wife thinks some of them are cute, but she thinks I'm cute, so her judgment could be impaired.

For PR I think this was an order of magnitude better than lipsync:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqtZEMJUAm0

[jnc36rcpd]

I have mixed feelings. In some ways, I don't mind them. As with Coffee With a Cop, Pop With a Cop. and other PR gestures, they provide some good PR for agencies. I tend to favor the lip sincs with attractive female officers, clever ideas, and cops who can actually lip sinc and/or dance. Examples are Los Angeles Sheriff, Orange County (CA) Sheriff. and Coventry (RI) Police and Fire. In the interest of political correctness, I will note that it equally valid to prefer videos with attractive male officers.

On the other hand, these things are taking up a ton of resources The effort and money that go into these productions could be going into other programs such as those that benefit Special Olympics and have some tangible value. For the agencies that boast that these productions are done on officers' free time, the chiefs might want to read up on labor law. The "donation" of time for a departmentally produced video, available on the Internet forever, may come back to haunt them if an officer grieves for overtime.

Moreover, I suspect that cops are being denied money or time for needed training and equipment because "we've been challenged to a lip sinc contest."

[BehindBlueI's]

If the officers involved get a boost to their morale, if it helps recruiting, if it humanizes law enforcement a bit, then good. It's not the sort of thing I'd participate in, though. Doesn't seem like the sort of thing to get panties twisted about one way or the other.

[CWM11B]

I think they are a complete and utter embarrassment. What started off as a few immature clowns spontaneously fucking off on duty with a smart phone camera quickly became an overblown, orchestrated shark jumping contest. Around here, they took a definite PC slant. Not to mention the cost. I know one agency in my area spent OVER 140k producing theirs. Thats money that definitely didn't get spent on true needs. I know my former agency spent a wad too. I couldn't get 40k to outfit every patrol rifle with an Aimpoint PRO, but there was money for this bullshit. So glad police work is getting smaller and smaller in my rearview mirror with each passing day.

[arcticlightfighter]

I long for the days when good people respected us, and criminals feared us.

This is nothing but pandering to a demographic that already likes police. No amount of this self deprecating virtue signaling will change the minds of those that hate us

I cant wait to be done and hope i make it to retirement

[ssb]

I have no real opinion on their value, good or bad, but I and some others are currently goading our local batch of Troopers to do East Bound and Down...

[Stephanie B]

I don’t see the harm of showing that cops are people who can have fun.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=OoItUVQB7nY

[Dagga Boy]

I think they are a complete and utter embarrassment. What started off as a few immature clowns spontaneously fucking off on duty with a smart phone camera quickly became an overblown, orchestrated shark jumping contest. Around here, they took a definite PC slant. Not to mention the cost. I know one agency in my area spent OVER 140k producing theirs. Thats money that definitely didn't get spent on true needs. I know my former agency spent a wad too. I couldn't get 40k to outfit every patrol rifle with an Aimpoint PRO, but there was money for this bullshit. So glad police work is getting smaller and smaller in my rearview mirror with each passing day.

Yea, if you aren’t going to put effort in to critical training deficiencies, needed patrol level equipment, and being “guardians” (key word being guard, as in defensive and reactive) instead of being proactive enforcers of law and actively removing predators from the community, they may as well be having fun.

[Bigghoss]

If departments are spending significant money/time to produce the videos or if officers are being forced to participate, that I have a problem with. If some officers volunteer a few minuets after shift to lip sync Rhianna or whatever then I don't think that's a big deal. Someone responded on the HiTS FB page with one that was also trying to raise awareness for domestic violence. That was really cool and I think that the Pickens County Sheriff's office just raised the bar on the lip sync challenge.

[CWM11B]

They aren't being "forced" per se, but when your told "All who dont want to participate can leave now" and notes are taken on who does and doesn't, wellll...
Cops having fun? Cool. Spontaneous acts caught by others by recording devices, no issue. Guys doing it on their own? Still idiotic IMO, and more narcissistic than anything else. Full on video production? GTFO. Some of these agencies are including their air assets in these. When those rotors are turning, money is burning. A LOT of it. I feel the same way about "COPS", "Live PD", "The First 48" and all the rest. Police work is not entertainment. Coffee with a cop, neighborhood watch, community meetings, hell, good old fashioned get out of the car and foot patrol all are better at building rapport with the community. The publicity stunts just make us look silly. It's total clownshoes. The human side of this work is shown when cops are doing what cops do on a day to day basis, and it is genuine. This is just pandering.

[nwhpfan]

I think most people would like the next viral PR challenge to be solving a crime or prioritizing the people we serve. Y'know, actually do good instead of just trying to look good.

Sorry we violated your rights, but here's us dumping water on our heads.

I think the video's went from original to contrived pretty darn quick. Creative guys with cell phones to large agencies with PR machines and media departments. Again, I think it's better to put efforts into actually being good...than putting those efforts into looking good.

However, FWIW, I watch more than my share. And I thoroughly enjoyed the ones I thought were street creative done by guys that are just as good solving a sex crime as working some I-movie. And for it's rawness, originality, and good sense of humor...the best one I saw was a few guys from West Linn Oregon that did Lazy Sunday. So good, so funny, I think it's been taken down....

[TGS]

I selected "they are unprofessional and embarrassing", though I don't actually think that they are. There isn't an answer to accurately convey my feelings, in that I don't like the videos and I don't think they're good PR because they are sending the wrong PR signal.

The police are not there to be your friend. The purpose of law enforcement is to use violence in order to subjugate a human being to the will of the state. The more we try to push cops to be cuddly creatures for the public's delight and entertainment, the more we give the public a false reality of what cops are, and what they're here to do. That in turn continues to feed the delusions that people have about appropriate police interactions, which reinforces the gap between reality and what the public thinks is proper and legal policing.

I think there's some very real subconscious psychological impact these videos have, and not in our favor.

As for it being unprofessional and embarrassing, that I'm really not too concerned with. I absolutely love Mike the Cop and especially Officer Daniels, so I've got no high ground to speak from on that front.

[AMC]

I am not a fan of the videos. I think they are symptomatic of our transformation from "Law Enforcement" to " Law Encouragement". Community Engagement is important...but when it becomes your entire focus, you've lost sight of your core mission. But we have LE administrators who say they aren't Law Enforcement officials...they're "Public Safety" officials. Our recruiting unit presents the image that a majority of our department is young WOC's....whose duties consist of instagraming their workouts and their avocado toast. Brave New world.

Perhaps the most galling thing to me is that our video sucked. Poor lip-sync, and bad dancing. And the double standard. Years ago, a group of guys did a silly, satirical video for a station Christmas Party. It was a bit politically incorrect, but it was tame, really. All in good fun....but when it was discovered by the press...the then chief declared it " the darkest day in the history of our department." Now it's being done on-duty...with official sanction.

[TheNewbie]

I am not a fan of the videos. I think they are symptomatic of our transformation from "Law Enforcement" to " Law Encouragement". Community Engagement is important...but when it becomes your entire focus, you've lost sight of your core mission. But we have LE administrators who say they aren't Law Enforcement officials...they're "Public Safety" officials. Our recruiting unit presents the image that a majority of our department is young WOC's....whose duties consist of instagraming their workouts and their avocado toast. Brave New world.

Perhaps the most galling thing to me is that our video sucked. Poor lip-sync, and bad dancing. And the double standard. Years ago, a group of guys did a silly, satirical video for a station Christmas Party. It was a bit politically incorrect, but it was tame, really. All in good fun....but when it was discovered by the press...the then chief declared it " the darkest day in the history of our department." Now it's being done on-duty...with official sanction.



Is the old video on the net? That actually sounds like one worth seeing .

[peterb]

Showing moments of actual spontaneous silliness is fine. Scripted, choreographed productions that use up department resources to give the impression of spontaneous silliness seem like a waste of time and money.

Dipping into the training or equipment budget to make one of these is inexcusable.

[JR1572]

Showing moments of actual spontaneous silliness is fine. Scripted, choreographed productions that use up department resources to give the impression of spontaneous silliness seem like a waste of time and money.

Dipping into the training or equipment budget to make one of these is inexcusable.

Nailed it. We have a silly, non-scripted video out there. I’ll try to find it and post it.

JR1572

[FNFAN]

Showing moments of actual spontaneous silliness is fine. Scripted, choreographed productions that use up department resources to give the impression of spontaneous silliness seem like a waste of time and money.

Dipping into the training or equipment budget to make one of these is inexcusable.

I would have to temper my previous post with the above sentiments. If you can't provide tools or training for people to do their job its specious to be making pr videos.

[HCM]

So this started with cops messing around with smart phones in the car. I would object to agencies spending money on these.

It’s not something I would do but it’s not bad. Not that anyone wants to see me lip synch.

My personal favorite. Enamorado ;-)

https://www.facebook.com/gloria.suits/videos/2196236183752315/

[LockedBreech]

I would have to temper my previous post with the above sentiments. If you can't provide tools or training for people to do their job its specious to be making pr videos.

I'll join this chorus. I had no idea some departments were actually allocating real resources to this. Absurd. I was talking about cell phone videos that are a few minutes long.

[TheNewbie]

So this started with cops messing around with smart phones in the car. I would object to agencies spending money on these.

It’s not something I would do but it’s not bad. Not that anyone wants to see me lip synch.

My personal favorite. Enamorado ;-)

https://www.facebook.com/gloria.suits/videos/2196236183752315/

My response was joking, but kind of mean. So I deleted it. lol

[TheNewbie]

My personal favorite.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXsWcnvegmE

[BobM]

29302

[tusk212]

Hate 'em.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[HCM]

My personal favorite.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXsWcnvegmE

Good but they are actually performing. Not really the same thing. They should be armed.

The cartels are armed even when they are doing the “La Chona” challenge:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BmmT15Xjhmt/?taken-by=edsmanifesto

[BehindBlueI's]

The purpose of law enforcement is to use violence in order to subjugate a human being to the will of the state.

No, it isn't. I'd hang up my shit and walk away today if I believed that statement. Yes, we sometimes have to fight people. Sometimes we have to kill them. But that's not our purpose. Our purpose is to protect and serve the people of our community and to uphold the Constitution. I don't get wrapped up with the "Guardian" or "Warrior" or "Spartan" or whatever today's BS analogy. We're cops. We don't need an analogy, because all of them are incomplete and all of them are wrong. We're the ones giving the abandoned toddler a stuffed animal and playing with them while child services comes one minute and fighting some whacked out meth-head who beat up a store clerk the next. And those are both, equally, our purpose.

[Dagga Boy]

No, it isn't. I'd hang up my shit and walk away today if I believed that statement. Yes, we sometimes have to fight people. Sometimes we have to kill them. But that's not our purpose. Our purpose is to protect and serve the people of our community and to uphold the Constitution. I don't get wrapped up with the "Guardian" or "Warrior" or "Spartan" or whatever today's BS analogy. We're cops. We don't need an analogy, because all of them are incomplete and all of them are wrong. We're the ones giving the abandoned toddler a stuffed animal and playing with them while child services comes one minute and fighting some whacked out meth-head who beat up a store clerk the next. And those are both, equally, our purpose.

And everyone of the tasks are much easier if you are respected as a stone cold pro. Crooks and citizens alike size you up constantly, and pro’s are expected to adapt properly while still remaining a professional. I remember how I looked at 1960’s and early 70’s LAPD cops as a kid. Lip Syncing and dancing to The Rolling Stones was not going to help that image that they portrayed....which was utter respect and confidence whether you needed them to help you, protect you, or incarcerate you.

AMC....I am totally stealing “Law Encouragement”.....it sure fits.

[TGS]

No, it isn't. I'd hang up my shit and walk away today if I believed that statement. Yes, we sometimes have to fight people. Sometimes we have to kill them. But that's not our purpose. Our purpose is to protect and serve the people of our community and to uphold the Constitution. I don't get wrapped up with the "Guardian" or "Warrior" or "Spartan" or whatever today's BS analogy. We're cops. We don't need an analogy, because all of them are incomplete and all of them are wrong. We're the ones giving the abandoned toddler a stuffed animal and playing with them while child services comes one minute and fighting some whacked out meth-head who beat up a store clerk the next. And those are both, equally, our purpose.

It's the root of the job. Without that, you can't actually enforce law because there's a segment of society that doesn't respond to civility. It, ultimately, is what order stems from.

[Trooper224]

These videos are another example of the cancer of pussification that's infecting law enforcement. Earlier tonight I came across an individual wanted on four counts of first degree murder. How do you think these dipshit videos would influence that subjects view of the cops? If I'd let him get away, do you think the loved ones of his victims would have been comforted by a lipsync video? More and more, this is the image people want of their cops: safe, friendly and comforting. Well, safe friendly and comforting doesn't get cop shit done when it's time to do cop shit. It's great when Officer Friendly hands out candy and plays b-ball with the kids, what a Norman Rockwell moment. But when the local pedophile kidnaps and kills those same kids, Officer Friendly's too busy clutching his pearls to be of any use. If this is what the public decides they want, it's what departments will hire. Then, when the feces hit the rotating oscillator, the cops they thought they wanted won't have the iron in their soul required for the occasion, buy at least they'll have cutesy videos to watch.

[BehindBlueI's]

I'd pay good money to watch anyone here tell the "main guy" in my department's video he's a pussy then glove up. Former competitive fighter, flew out to Vegas to compete a couple times while we were partners, and I've watched him punch a guy hard enough to lift him off his feet and propel him over a bush, KO'd. I've also seen a young woman come up to him in tears to thank him for something he'd said to her years earlier that had encouraged her to go back to school, as she'd apparently make something of herself and credited him with helping.

I doubt Joe Shit the Ragman is going to jump E because he saw him lip sync.

[BehindBlueI's]

It's the root of the job. Without that, you can't actually enforce law because there's a segment of society that doesn't respond to civility. It, ultimately, is what order stems from.

It's not the root, it's not the purpose, it is one aspect. An important one, and one that must be trained and prepared for, but being a cop is much more multi-faceted. Maybe some of the feds who do nothing but actually enforce laws may see it different. Being a street cop, "LEO" is only one aspect of our purpose. From reviving overdoses, talking down the suicidal, safeguarding found property, dealing with traffic crashes, etc. there's no crime occurring or criminal law being broken with much of what we deal with. So, no, I strongly disagree with your characterization of my purpose or the root of my job.

I've proven I'll fight you if I have to. I've proven I'll shoot you if I have to. I've proven I'll kill you if I have to. But I don't think those things are my purpose or the root of my job. They are just parts of it.

[CWM11B]

I'd pay good money to watch anyone here tell the "main guy" in my department's video he's a pussy then glove up. Former competitive fighter, flew out to Vegas to compete a couple times while we were partners, and I've watched him punch a guy hard enough to lift him off his feet and propel him over a bush, KO'd. I've also seen a young woman come up to him in tears to thank him for something he'd said to her years earlier that had encouraged her to go back to school, as she'd apparently make something of herself and credited him with helping.

I doubt Joe Shit the Ragman is going to jump E because he saw him lip sync.

No one here said those in the videos were pussies. We said the videos were unprofessional and wont help. I'll pay good money to see the next SJW leader stand up to a crowd at the next "outrage" and say "Hey guys, stand down from the looting and burning, these guys did a really awesome lip sync video, its all good"

We will just agree to disagree. Compelling compliance is what this job is about. There are many ways to do it, and many paths to the destination, but at the end of the day that is what its about.

[Erick Gelhaus]

We managed to get it shut down hard here. Out of 700ish sworn and non sworn employees, there were only twenty that were willing and only three of those had badges & blasters. My shift was clear on why I was opposed to this in spite of being extremely supportive of all the other ways we interact with & educate the community.
Ultimately, we are the police and we need to be seen as the police.
Funny that COPS was mentioned. More on that later.
I’ll do Coffee with Cop, Ice Cream with a Deputy was the most work fun I’ve had in years, and I’ll even go in on Dine with the Swine (no, not a real thing). But I’m not doing the videos.
I’m very glad to see so many of my peers agreeing with me - especially with the way some benign internal videos have been perceived in the past.