Concord police lip sync video a nod to Latino community

You might have seen lip sync videos before, but the latest one from Concord PD is to a Spanish-English song featuring officers and members of the public.

After being challenged by members of the community to make the video, Concord PD Captain Bill Roche said he started planning.

“We wanted a video that was more representative of what we do every day. We're out there with the people,” Roche said.

The song, “Bailando” by Enrique Iglesias, was not by coincidence. Roche said 25% of Concord’s population is Latino and part of the video was filmed along the Monument Blvd. corridor, home to many Latino families. The three officers featured as singers, Sgt. Carl Cruz, Sgt. Kyle Colvin, and Sgt. Robert Garcia, are bilingual. 

“Anything we can do to take away those barriers between the community and police, I’m all for it.” Sgt. Garcia said.

Roche said the department reached out to the Monument Crisis Center for collaboration and the organization chose the song. The community based, non-profit family resource center was immediately blown away when they were approached with the idea, according to Executive Director Sandra Scherer. The organization helps provide health, wellness, educational services and more to thousands of families, who live on an average budget of $1300 a month for a family of four. Roughly 60 people who seek services from Monument Crisis Center are featured in the video.

“The police department felt we were really well connected to the community and that we have the trust of the community,” Scherer said. “We work with some of the toughest issues that you can imagine so having something fun, just like for the officers who see the tough side of life… this was just a real lift to the community,” Scherer said.

The video was filmed over two days in October by a professional film company in San Francisco and came with a $34,000 price tag. Roche said the department used asset forfeiture funds that they seized from drug dealers to pay for the cost. The cowboy hats seen in the video were a donation to the project.

On Nov. 29, the owner of Brenden Theatres in Concord held a private screening of the video for everyone involved, from children to seniors.

“One of the parents said to us, ‘Thank you for giving our kids these kinds of experiences,’ and I think that alone is really worth the whole experience,” Scherer said.

The Concord Police Department hopes the video will connect with the public to show they are more than the badge they wear.

“When you see me on the street, you can go, 'Hey I know him. He was bailando.’ and that's what I want,” Sgt. Cruz said.