VIDEO: National Law Enforcement Lip Sync Battle Captivates, Unites Communities

Brevard Sheriff's Office, Palm Bay PD Join in

ABOVE VIDEO: The latest police videos going viral don’t feature scenes of confrontation, only the sounds of harmony. (Video by CBS News)

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – It is often said that music and dance have the power to bring people together. That appears to be the case in the latest viral video craze captivating the nation, ‘The Law Enforcement Lip Sync Challenge.’

What began in Bexar County, Texas a few weeks back, The Law Enforcement Lip Sync Challenge now has departments from King County, Washington to our very own Brevard County taking part.

The challenge began when a deputy from the BCSO, the Bexar County Sheriff’s Department, recorded himself lip syncing a song called “Fuiste Mala” by the group The Kumbia Kings.

The Bexar County Sheriff’s Department is responsible for maintaining the law in and around San Antonio, Texas. After Deputy Alexander Mena’s performance captivated local citizens and went viral, it also inspired other officers to join the fun with their own videos.

A few days later, San Antonio Police Officer J. Quiroz felt inspired to film his own lip-sync as he performed “Bye Bye Bye” from the popular 90’s boy band, NYSNC.

This video also went viral, and the hashtag #Lipsyncbattle got people debating which officer did the best.

ABOVE VIDEO: The videos that started the 2018 Law enforcement Lip Sync Challenge. Officers from three departments in Texas challenged each other to an epic lip-sync battle. Their performances have gone viral — who do you think won? (Video by CBS News)

The battle has now gone from officer challenging officer to departments challenging departments all over the country. Fire Departments are also producing their own challenge videos or joining forces with local law enforcement in their videos.

The challenges are reminiscent of another viral video sensation from a few years ago that helped raise money for a popular charity.

The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge took the nation and internet by storm as people from all walks of life dumped cold buckets of water and ice over their heads to help raise money to fight Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis(ALS), also known as motor neurone disease (MND), or Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Before dumping buckets over their heads, people would issue a challenge to several family members, friends or coworkers giving them only 24-hours to complete the challenge or donate money.

ABOVE VIDEO: Harris County Constable Deputy Madison Sperry and he K9 partner, Quelle, joined the lip sync challenge and performed, what else, “Who Let The Dogs Out?”  by the Baha Men. (Video by Deputy Madison Sperry)

Not all lip sync videos are created equal nor is every law enforcement department as talented as the next.

Here on the Space Coast, our own BCSO, the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, answered their challenge early last week and produced a video that included 20 plus members and even the Sheriff’s Chain Gang lip-syncing the 1982 hit song by the band Survivor, ‘Eye of the Tiger, the Rocky III movie theme song.

As recently as Wednesday, the Palm Bay Police Department became the latest Space Coast law enforcement agency to join the craze performing the Meghan Trainor hit, Me Too.

Several other local police departments have indicated on Facebook that they have been challenged but have yet to produce a video. To say these videos are popular is an understatement.

The amount of views is staggering but not unexpected. The leader in the clubhouse is the Norfolk Police Department whose rendition of the popular Bruno Mars song ‘Uptown Funk’ has over 50 million views and nearly two million Facebook shares.

ABOVE VIDEO: The Palm Bay Police Dept lip syncs to  Meghan Trainor’s hit, Me too.

From country to rap music and from 1950 through today, the lip sync videos have represented every genre and generation of music hits.

These videos show a lighter side of law enforcement agencies that citizens need to see especially in a day and age when the work of these brave men and women can go unappreciated and any news aside from arrests and stings is negative and tries to show departments in a bad light.

The videos ‘humanize’ men and women who are often feared instead of being revered and help to show that they also like to have fun.

Not all of the departments across the country have accepted the challenge. Abilene, Texas Police Chief Stan Standridge said in a Facebook post the department was too busy to participate.

“We are currently investigating three homicides, in addition to countless other serious crimes that continue to come in every day. If we say yes to lip-syncing, then we say no to more pressing matters,” Chief Standridge said in a statement he released on Facebook.

Understandable Chief. With that said, here are some of the best ‘law Enforcement Lip Sync Battle’ videos produced to date

ABOVE VIDEO: Martinsville Police #lipsyncbattle

ABOVE VIDEO: Martinsville Fire Department responds to the Martinsville Police lip sync challenge.

ABOVE VIDEO: The Hampton Police Division in Hampton, Virginia responds to Norfolk Police Department viral lip sync challenge.

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