Police departments across the nation have made great strides in lightening their image in recent weeks by participating in the online viral “police lip sync challenge.” By showing the soft and silly side of the Nation’s law-enforcement officers, the challenge has succeeded in easing racial tensions and connecting officers to the communities they serve. Sadly, those efforts hit a setback Monday when an LAPD cadet shot and killed the African-American cameraman hired to shoot his unit’s rendition of “Look What You Made Me Do” by Taylor Swift.
“When I saw all the shares and ‘likes’ Norfolk PD was getting on their video of “Uptown Funk” I knew this was the answer to #BlackLivesMatter.” A wistful LAPD deputy recalled. “Of course no one wanted anyone to get hurt. But these things happen and it’s nobody’s fault.”
Having learned valuable lessons from the failed first attempt, the dancing deputies plan to move ahead with a different cameraman, even if it means putting bright orange tape around the lens so it doesn’t look so much like a weapon and hiring someone whose skin contrasts better with the camera. “We already learned all the moves and rented lights and props,” recently appointed Cheif Michael Moore stated in a press conference. “Now it’s up to the public to decide if they will let the actions of one individual in a very tense situation, color their whole opinion of cops.”
