There’s a friendly battle brewing between local police agencies. A game of one-ups-man-ship, lip-syncing like there’s no tomorrow.
In Boynton Beach, Katy Perry on a boat. In Delray Beach, a mashup of greatest hits. In Boca Raton, making Olaf from Frozen proud.
And then at Florida Atlantic University, with more than four million views already, it’s a Brittany Spears rendition. FAU Officer Michael Marzigliano and his drug-detecting, show-stopping K9 Kona lip-synced Spears’ hit “Hit Me Baby One More Time.”
“A lot of people making those comments on the video that the dog seems unfazed, he must do this all the time. Yeah, that’s pretty accurate,” he said. But he is usually singing out loud.
On top of humanizing the badge, there’s a story behind his now viral performance.
He recently got a call from a former girlfriend, who he’s still close friends with. She said she had stage four carcinoma.
“She said hey, you know, have you seen those lip-sync videos that all the other officers have been doing? I said, of course, I’ve seen them. I’ve seen you sharing them,” he said with a laugh.
Well, she wanted him to do one to brighten her day.
“I was in my driveway actually, I hadn’t even left for work yet and I said before I even hit the road let me just sit here real quick, I’ll just do this,” he said. “She was just cheered up, glowing. Called me up and said she was so excited to see that and she was really thankful that I did and it made her day a lot better.”
After the Boynton Beach Police Department made their video, they challenged the West Palm Police Department. They haven’t made one yet, but they say they’re trying.
West Palm Beach PD, we’ll be watching.
The lip-sync battles between law enforcement started in San Antonio, Texas, with the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office and the San Antonio Police Department. Since then, agencies all over the nation have made videos.