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CONCORD — Count the Concord Police Department as the latest law enforcement agency to go viral with a self-produced lip sync video in an effort to connect with the community it serves by showing the lighter, friendlier side of cops having fun.
But the video hasn’t been a hit with everyone, at least not with critics who question the wisdom of spending about $34,000 to produce it — money seized from arrests.
The video, which the department released last week on its Facebook page, features officers dancing and lip syncing to Enrique Iglesias’ popular hit “Bailando” in different parts of Concord — from outside shops in the mostly Latino Monument Boulevard corridor to downtown’s Todos Santos square to the department’s own station. A sprinkling of residents make cameo appearances, including clients of the nonprofit resource provider Monument Crisis Center.
While many comments on the department’s Facebook page have praised the video for showing a positive side of policing, others have questioned the department’s judgement in spending money for what they consider mostly PR.
The roughly $34,000 covered about two days of staff time to produce and participate in the video, as well as payments to a production company that filmed and edited it, according to Concord police Captain Bill Roche.
The money came from asset forfeiture, a controversial practice that allows police to collect cash and other property from people they arrest or suspect of wrongdoing. California law requires law enforcement in most cases to wait until defendants are convicted before keeping their assets.
Roche said most of the money Concord gets that way comes from those convicted of selling illegal drugs. Typically, that money is spent on police equipment or some “community engagement aspect,” Roche said, adding that the department cannot use it to hire more officers. Building relationships with the community is important for crime prevention, Roche said, and the lip sync video seemed like a way to help boost that.
“Communities were starting to see identities in these videos and were taking pride in them,” he said of the wave of lip sync videos that popped up on police department Facebook pages and websites across the nation this year.
Roche said it was especially important to include Concord’s large Latino community, which is why police reached out to the Monument Crisis Center for participants and help in selecting the bilingual pop hit.
“I think that if this video results in higher trust for the police among the community and that trust results in a safer community, then it’s a good thing,” said one Concord resident who did not want to be identified.
On the other hand, he added, “the use of a video to address the issue of police trust strikes me as addressing the problem on an exterior surface level rather than on an internal, structural, systemic level.”
His wasn’t the only criticism. While many of the hundreds of people who commented on the video uploaded to the Concord Police Department’s social media pages praised the video, others begged to differ.
“Civil asset forfeiture guarantees police corruption,” read one comment on the YouTube page. “If you are going to steal citizens’ money without due process at least spend it on something useful.”
Another wrote that it was a “waste of money that was obtained through legalized theft.”
A more positive review of the video posted by a Facebook user read, “I’m sure the backlash about the amount spent on the video will hit soon…I however believe it was money well spent if it brings the community together in any way.”
Roche said he was disappointed with some of the flak. “We’ve spent five times that on automatic weapons, and no one said a word, but we reach out to our Latino community and there is this outrage.”
Whereas in the past people expected cops to be combat-ready officers with an almost soldier-like demeanor, “today, communities want officers with a teacher mentality — empathetic, compassionate, worried about the community as a whole,” he said. “This was a pivot toward trying to develop relationships with the community.”
Sandra Scherer, executive director of the Monument Crisis Center, called the video “an amazing thing for the community.”
“Doing these kinds of things to break down these barriers is huge,” she said of the video. Many of the families at the center, especially immigrants, have negative perceptions of police, she said. Maybe they had a bad experience with police in their home country and fear law enforcement, so they often come to the crisis center to report crimes.
Scherer acknowledged that at first glance, $34,000 might seem to some like a steep price for a minutes-long video, but she thinks it’s worth it. At a recent holiday party at the center, the video drew several cheers and plenty of laughs.
“If you can break that down and not have people fear the police, that is worth so much.”
