New Kent Sheriff’s Office lip sync to strengthen community ties

New Kent Sheriff's Office teaser pic for their music video sparked for more than 17,000 views within a two-day span.

Photo courtesy of New Kent Sheriff's Office

Sometimes the best way to get a message out to the community, you have to adapt to the situation. That’s what New Kent Sheriff’s Office chose to do in one of the more unique ways sweeping across the county.

New Kent Sheriff’s Office accepted a lip sync challenge that is sweeping across the nation. The challenge found its way to New Kent and is used to bring a sense of community. The project exemplified togetherness by combining the talents of citizens, the sheriff’s office, and New Kent High School.

New Kent High School’s television and media production instructor David Haviland ran the project with his knowledge and expertise. Band and choir director Mark Malecheck provided key points to the lip-sync that showcased 17 New Kent officers dancing and singing to the 1980’s hit “You Make My Dreams.” Locations in the music video include New Kent Sheriff’s Office, Colonial Downs, and the rest area on Interstate 64.

Though significant and fun, one of the most important part of the video was at the end when Sheriff J. Joe McLaughlin Jr. sat in his office writing documents while Luke Bryan’s “Most People are Good” played. According to the sheriff, the song is significant because it highlights the goodness of most people, no matter how hard it is to see it.

“Most people are good and we took the initiative to this video and was not challenged to do it,” McLaughlin said, pointing to hire the lip sync challenge by police departments usually challenge another jurisdiction at the end. “We wanted to show citizens that officers are more than just robots.

“We feel fortunate that most people are good and supportive of law enforcement,” the sheriff continued. “We want people to know that when they see us on the street that it’s okay to walk up and talk to us. We have an open-door policy that it is good for our community to come together.”

The sheriff added that his overall message was to give everyone not just from New Kent, but from everywhere respect and it will be given back to you.

You can view the video on YouTube by visiting https://youtu.be/ZbSuJe72um0.