By Jessica Bruha
The Norman Transcript
NORMAN, Okla. — Controversy over a Norman police recruiting video has been stirring in the community over the past few weeks, but while some residents said it’s embarrassing, Chief Keith Humphrey stands behind it.
Humphrey talked about the video Thursday during the Public Safety Oversight Committee. He told committee members the department has received more positive feedback about it than negative.
The video, which shows recruiter MPO Carl Pendleton singing and dancing to a song from Disney’s “Frozen” soundtrack, conveys the message that the Norman Police Department is hiring.
For the first minute and a half Pendleton is in uniform singing his own version of the song and dancing through the police department hallway, much like that of a scene involving the character Anna in “Frozen”. The video then ends on a serious note with information about the department hiring.
It made its rounds on local media and even was on “Good Morning America.” Humphrey said because of it they’ve been getting a lot of calls from people saying whey want to be a part of their organization.
Calls have come in from Florida, New Jersey, Utah, Iowa, New Mexico and all over, Pendleton said.
They have even gotten calls from parents thanking them for showing a litter side of the police department, Humphrey said.
“The phone calls I have received haven’t been the same thing that you are reporting,” said committee member Lea Greenleaf. “People are telling me, telling their friends, I want you to go see this because I couldn’t believe it.”
Greenleaf added that while nontraditional isn’t necessarily a bad thing, sometimes it’s hard to explain.
In a Letter to the Editor published in The Transcript last week, the wife of a former police officer explained her feelings about the video.
She believed the video to be distasteful and was embarrassed about the behavior displayed while the officer was in uniform. Some retired officers have also expressed concern.
The letter writer added she has seen the uniform do marvelous things over the years and felt that it was degraded in the video.
“You’ve got to understand when you’re dealing with the generation now, they’re more in to social media and you’ve got to do something to grab their attention,” Humphrey said Thursday.
He told the committee that if he believed something was inappropriate he would be the first one to stop it.
“Let me assure you guys, we will never do anything to tarnish the badge, the reputation of the City of Norman, the uniform, our integrity. We’ll never do that,” he said.
The nontraditional video was reaching out to a target audience who are not traditional recruits.
Pendleton said by using traditional methods, they’re going to get traditional applicants. While he said he is great with traditional applicants, they already come for the most part.
“As you’ve seen all across the country there is a major, major deficit when it comes to minority applicants, when it comes to female applicants, when it comes to making sure that we keep people who are on the fence about doing police work,” Pendleton said.
He said he is trying to find ways that are cost effective and unique that people will take notice of.
Not one application they processed did the applicant say they heard about the department hiring from their school’s hire website.
Pendleton said they have posted on all of the local school websites, even in Texas, and no one has seen it.
“Students aren’t looking at that. They’re looking at Facebook, they’re looking at Twitter and they’re following those things,” he said.
The recruit video has received nearly 50,000 hits in just a few weeks, which is a stark contrast from the 6,000 hits they received from a video they’ve had up on YouTube for three years.
“Our social media has just taken off,” Humphrey said. “We were at status quo.”
A large majority of the younger generation wants to know what kind of social media you have because they’re into technology, he said.
Some people were also concerned the video depicts the department as being “soft,” Humphrey said. But he doesn’t agree. It just exposes a more community friendly department, he said.
“If we’re going to be a community of community oriented policing we have to show that our people can believe in us and that we’re approachable,” he said.
Committee member Malaka Elyazgi said she believes it does just that.
“It humanizes you. Honestly, it makes you more approachable,” Elyazgi said, adding that not only potential recruits are looking at the video, but also teenagers who are thinking they can see themselves as officers one day.
There has since been another, more traditional recruiting video the police department made, but the nontraditional approach will return, Pendleton said. They will continue to try to reach those nontraditional applicants and bring diversity to the department.
Pendleton said their next idea is a police flash mob.
“We’re trying new things. If you’ve noticed, our social media has definitely boosted our presence. We’re going to continue doing those things,” he said.
Copyright 2015 The Norman Transcript