LEOs nationwide participate in lip-sync battle

By Police1 Staff

NEW YORK — Lip-sync challenges are taking over law enforcement agencies nationwide.

ABC News reported that LEOs across the nation have posted videos of them lip-syncing to pop songs on social media, issuing challenges to other departments. Many of the lip-syncing videos have gone viral.

The phenomenon started with Deputy Alexander Mena, who works for the Bexar County Sheriff's Office in Texas. On June 19, the department posted a video of Mena lip-syncing to “Fuiste Mala” by the Kumbia Kings, which has garnered more than 1.4 million views.

Mena said he’d been doing lip-sync videos since he’d gotten Snapchat. He said one day, he sent one of the videos to his sergeant, who shared it with the officers who handle the department’s social media accounts.

"We wanted some positive stuff to come to the sheriff's office. With some of the things that happen in law enforcement and with the media ... we wanted something more positive and for the community and our deputies to kind of connect together. ... I did not think that it was going to blow up the way that it did," Mena said.

When the sheriff’s office boasted that Mena had "a mean lip sync not many can beat," other law enforcement agencies across the state and eventually the country took that as a challenge.

LEOs from agencies in Texas such as Austin, San Antonio and Laredo participated in the challenge. Soon, departments in states such as Massachusetts, Washington and South Carolina also joined in on the battle.

"People get to see another side of the officers and the not-so-serious side that everybody perceives it to be when you're talking to an officer or you're communicating with one," Mena said. "It lets the younger generation know that OK, it's OK to go up to an officer and just say, 'Hi.' That way they know that we like to have a good time too."

Mena said he didn’t think officers across the country would participate and post their own videos. He said he’s glad other LEOs are joining in on the fun.

“I think it helps the morale and I think it helps with communities and law enforcement coming together," he said. "I want to challenge every other department out there throughout the country to get involved and have one of their officers lip sync and see where it goes."