Law Enforcement Lip Sync Challenge Comes to Boston
BU and BC police face off in humorous video to welcome back students
On a sweltering afternoon earlier this month, members of the Boston University Police Department, led by Chief Kelly Nee, faced off with members of the Boston College Police Department, led by Chief Bill Evans, for a hilarious lip sync challenge.
The #LipSyncChallenge movement began earlier this summer, when Bexar County, Texas, Sheriff’s Office deputy Alexander Mena recorded himself lip syncing “Fuiste Mala,” by the Kumbia Kings. That video, designed to humanize police officers and departments, has been viewed more than one and a half million times since being posted on June 19. Police departments across the country picked up on the idea.
Boston College officials approached the BCPD public information officer, Lieutenant Jeff Postell, earlier this month and asked him to come up with a concept for a lip sync challenge they could do. Postell loved the idea, but wanted to produce something different from what other departments had done, “something that took it to a whole new level,” he says. He hit on the idea of reaching out to the BUPD to produce the first #LipSyncChallenge video that would involve two different departments.
“There’s such a great, good-natured sports rivalry between the two schools, and we thought it would be great to involve BU,” Postell says. He got in touch with BUPD Sergeant Patricia Murphy, who thought it was a terrific idea and took it to an equally enthusiastic Nee.
“This was a way for us to connect with a neighboring department, to humanize our departments, and welcome back our communities,” says Murphy. “Police officers enjoy laughing and connecting with their communities. We had a great time making the video.”
Using a script written by Postell, some 30 officers from both departments met on BC’s Brighton campus for the two-hour shoot. The video plays up the BC-BU rivalry and features segments of some of Boston sports fans’ favorite songs, including the Dropkick Murphys’ “Shipping Up to Boston,” and Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline,” the anthem of the Boston Red Sox.
One of the video highlights is a scene where patrol officers, and identical twin brothers, Michael (BCPD) and Richard (BUPD) Cabral face off as the two departments lip-synch to the Standells’ “Dirty Water,” only to be interrupted by a Boston Police Department (BPD) patrol car.
The lip sync challenge reunited Nee and Evans, who worked together for nearly three decades at the BPD. Evans, who was appointed Boston police commissioner in 2014, became BCPD chief earlier this summer. Nee was deputy superintendent of the BPD Bureau of Intelligence and Analysis during Evans’ tenure as commissioner.
“It was a lot of fun to highlight the good-natured rivalry between BU and BC,” Nee says. “It was a great way to show that police officers have a sense of humor and are approachable.”
The video was released last Monday and has already gone viral. As of Sunday night, it had been viewed more than 350,000 times.
“The whole experience was phenomenal,” says Postell. “It was a great way for both of our police departments to come together and show our love and commitment for our individual institutions, our pride in our profession, and the utmost respect and love we all have for our city.”
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