The Devil’s In The Dance Moves
Is the Salty Sarge the only cop in America to vehemently oppose seeing cops lip syncing like pre-teens in a talent show? I think not based on recent feedback from Salty Sarge Nation. That said, they seem to have grown on some of you in the audience, while others are ready to be done with the conversation.
I too am getting tired of cops dancing to Bruno Mars songs…
Tired of seeing them…
Tired of hearing them…
It’s time to STOP.
I saw one recently to “Because I Got High”… Are we serious people?
I share this video as a matter of publicly shaming these officers. Please hand in your gun and your badge. There is a fire unit that needs help staging somewhere. I’m sure all the folks in the firehouse would welcome you right aboard. As for us cops… We have work to do and you are a distraction.
“3 Reasons Why Cops Hate Firemen”
Let this article act as a eulogy of sorts… A eulogy, if the recently deceased was a drunken mess who always ruined family outings.
That’s how I feel about cops lip syncing while I’m on the job. My intention is to fully put the subject to bed here.
I may make fun of cops lip syncing down the road if it is warranted, but my intention is to kill whatever life they may still have…. Hopefully this post doesn’t go viral and breath more life into the movement… Although I would kind of like that a little.
So Here It Goes…
I remember growing up as a kid when cops were real-life superheroes. They had the ultimate rough and tough image. What better way to become a superhero yourself than by becoming a cop?
“A Veteran Cop Pens Open Letter to Rookie Officer”
I wanted to get down and dirty, be in the trenches, and fight America’s battles. I truly wanted to serve and protect our citizens.
My dad would come home from work with holes in his blue work pants, scrapes on his hands and elbows.
I’d ask “What happened today, dad?”
He’d reply in his gruff voice, “sometimes work is tough.”
Tough. That’s the word I thought of when I thought of being a police officer. And you know what? I was inspired by that… It made me want to be a cop with everything I had.
“Want To Be A Cop? Answer These 10 Questions First”
What do our kids see when they think about cops? Would they feel the same way?
Jurisdictions that were once viewed as hard as nails, keeping criminals at bay are on youtube, in uniform, belting out ‘Ironic’ by Alanis Morissette.
And let me put this out there for everyone to read… I AM ALL FOR FUN. But there is a time and a place.
Our New Image.
We’re putting a new image out there and I don’t think it’s a good one.
Many departments these days have social media accounts. They are pioneering the digital image of policing in an era of social media.
“The 4 Traits All Great Cops Possess”
A quick perusing of these social media accounts turns up scores of uniformed police officers engaging in lip syncing battles and too many other silly gimmicks to count. If cannabis is a gateway drug, then cops lip syncing is a gateway activity…
It goes beyond good P.R. in the toughest times of our career from a public perception standpoint.
I’m told many in the community love seeing cops lip syncing. “It makes cops relatable,” they’ll say. “It makes them more approachable.” I say it is killing the very fabric the criminal justice system is built on.
It’s cute.
We, as cops, are not cute. We were never meant to be cute. We are meant to be TOUGH. We are meant to be noble. We are meant to be just. We are meant to be leaders. We are meant to be stoic. We are meant to be brave.
“Female Cops: Why We Need More of Them”
Be silly on your own time. Hell, we can even be vulnerable, but that’s got to come from being real with the American people. That’s got to come from letters like this: “Heartfelt Message From a Police Officer’s Daughter”.
Yes, it’s argued that cops lip syncing helps with police-community communications, as well as fostering awareness, but there have got to be better ways to promote good relations and transparency without putting on a clown show.
If we really want to be relatable, it’s time we speak up about our experiences as officers. It’s time we really share with our communities, who are clearly yearning for a deeper level of communication, understanding and connection, what we go through on a daily basis. We need to share with them in a truly authentic way. I promise my brothers and sisters that we are far more relatable than anyone can imagine.
“5 Reasons Why Cops Struggle In Relationships”
Cops Lip Syncing: A Final Word.
I am running the risk of going too deep so I’ll conclude with this:
It is time to STOP.
Yes, I’m old school… Yes, I’m actually old. Yes, I’m grouchy… And No, I don’t want to lighten up.
…But that doesn’t mean I’m wrong.
We are not a circus and we need to stop fake singing our way into a corner.
Is Harry Callahan permanently retired?
If cops start doing the Kiki Challenge en masse, I might retire too.
Bruno Mars kicks Butt!
I am old too, Just turned 70, and I am old school. I have never seen any social media posts by “cops” because I dont do social media, except this forum I guess. However, I do know about how many young cops today are not doing the job. After I retired from the big city Police force in 2003, I went back to the small town where I started and was Municipal Court Bailiff for a few years.
The judge and i noticed that most traffic tickets were written for no insurance or a suspended drivers license. There were almost no citations for moving violations. It was obvious that the young coppers were just driving around running license plates on their computers. That sure as hell is not doing Police work.
There is plenty of info out there about how social media does not really “connect” anyone. It also allows bigots and haters a forum for them to spout their garbage without fear of a face to face with a human being.
Officers need to get out of social media and out of the patrol car and meet real people. That was the idea behind the “Community Policing” farce back in the 90s. It was a joke because a lot more Officers are needed to make it work, and at my agency the numbers kept shrinking. I could write a book on why that failed.
Another problem I noticed before I retired was that many young coppers were in a big hurry to get promoted, or on some special team. None of them realized or cared that it takes many years working a district for the people there to get to know and trust you. That is Policing, not driving around playing with the onboard computer in your marked car.
Lastly, I remember back in the 1980s seeing some “cop” show on TV and the Officers were all wearing baseball hats. Boy did that look unprofessional. Next thing I know, everybody, including my agency had them. Besides their stupid look, they were worthless. They could not keep your head dry and water ran down the back of your neck. Many of us bought black rain hats from REI in Seattle and wore them in violation of agency policy. We figured when we were standing out in the rain, no one would come up to us to bitch about it. No one ever did.
Well said Cowboy.
Amen Sarge.
I think the whole lip sync challenge is stupid and unprofessional. It started off as one or two agencies doing it for fun and now hundreds if not thousands of agencies have followed suit.
I think it goes back to like my grandma used to say when you did something bad because your friends did. “Well if Johnny jumped off a bridge, would you jump off too?”
My agency hasn’t done a lip sync video, and we won’t be doing one. We are one of a few agencies where cops are still allowed to be cops and we’re not SHEEP that feel the need to follow along because, “well everyone else is doing it”!
Hope this idioc fad has come to an end.