Oregon Officer Joins Nationwide Lip Sync Battle

HILLSBORO, OR — Police officers across the nation have been taking to YouTube over the past month to challenge each other to lip sync battles, and now the Hillsboro Police Department has joined the fray.

Posting its video to Facebook Thursday, the Hillsboro Police Department featured Officer Joey Edwards in the driver's seat, giving his rendition of Bonnie Taylor's 1983 hit, "Total Eclipse of the Heart," complete with a "perp" backup singer.

"Officer Edwards is an outgoing, community-minded, young officer working to create new connections with Hillsboro residents," HPD spokesman Sgt. Eric Bunday told Patch. "Doing things like this lip sync challenge — we like to show a different side of police work when we can and build those community connections. So, this is a fun, different way to reach the community and help create those new connections not just for Edwards but the entire department — which was fully supportive."

According to ABC News, the officer-led lip sync challenge began June 19 when Bexar County Sheriff's Deputy Alexander Mena posted a video of himself singing "Fuiste Mala" by Kumbia Kings. The Texas deputy's video has since been viewed well over 1 million times.

The lip sync challenge then spread across Texas before reaching law enforcement agencies across the rest of the country. Bunday believes HPD may be the first Oregon agency to participate; in doing so, it also challenged officers in Portland, Beaverton, and Washington County.

"It's a very fun thing to do, and it shows that while we may be police we still like to have a good time," Bunday said. "We laugh, we love music, and hopefully this shows people we're approachable and human, too."

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Washington County Sheriff's Office spokesman Deputy Jeff Talbot had only a few words in response: "Our deputies have been watching The Voice and taking notes. Stay tuned."

Watching other department videos, Bunday said, HPD looked for how it could do the video differently. Ultimately, Hillsboro's officers decided to add a backup singer: an unidentified officer disguised as a proper perp in the backseat.

The perp, however, actually ended up spending more time in the backseat than he would have preferred, Bunday explained.

While recording the video, Edwards reportedly received an actual emergency call and had to take a break to conduct real police work. But when he quickly left the car he also left the "perp" in the back — which was locked.

Forced to remain in the backseat of his own patrol car, the backup singer waited about 15 minutes (though he said it felt much longer) while Edwards tended to his emergency call. Thankfully, the air conditioner was running and the officer had his cell phone, which he used to play Candy Crush and watch YouTube videos until Edwards returned, Bunday said.

With that crisis averted and the video now uploaded, it's just a matter of waiting to see which agency will "rise to the challenge," Bunday said.

Image via Hillsboro Police Department