Central Texas Cops Engage In Epic Lip-Sync Battle

CENTRAL TEXAS, TX — To protect and sing. Sort of sing, anyway.

Officers across Texas have been engaged in an epic lip-sync battle among themselves in the last few days, and cops from Central Texas recently entered the fray. Up the road in San Antonio, Bexar County Sheriff's Office deputy Alexander Mena threw down the gauntle, posting a video to Facebook lip-syncing a Spanish song.

Since then, challenges to participate have been received and accepted, with officers from area forces filming their own performances. So far, officers in Austin, Bastrop, the Travis County Sheriff's Office and the Williamson County Sheriff's Office have joined the melodic fray, posting their patrol car karaoke sessions on social media.

For his selection, no-nonsense Williamson County Sheriff Robert Chody chose a song that combines his love of country-infused pop standards with a message to law scofflaws. His rendition of Blondie's "One Way Or Another," is at once entertaining and haunting with the refrain ("One way or another, I'm gonna find ya' I'm gonna get ya', get ya', get ya', get ya') doubling as his dogged and tenacious approach to locating bad guys in bringing them to justice.

After his memorable performance, Chody challenged the Austin Police Department to engage in lip-sync battle. Austin's finest accepted the challenge, trotting out Officer Marcos Johnson, who appears to be a ringer. Johnson didn't limit himself to merely mouthing the words to his musical selection, but included a bit of choreography with spirited, albeit seated, dance moves from inside his patrol car.

Johnson followed up his mesmerizing performance with a challenge to his Cedar Park counterparts. The Cedar Park Police Department did not disappoint, with a mashup featuring Sgt. Campbell (like Cher, only one name is needed as identifier) with a Bell Biv DeVoe classic along with Assistant Chief Mike Harmon with his best Steve Perry mimicry.

Not content simply to lip-sync, Cedar Park police invited guests to provide a bit of backup dancing. There are also dramatic camera shots involved, particularly the gradual training of the camera to Harmon as he readies to voicelessly belt out Journey's Don't Stop Believin' while seated at his office, gesturing dramatically through the length of the song.

The result: We simply cannot look away.

Deputy Garcia with the Precinct 3 Constable’s Office joined the #LipSyncBattle with a little help from his friends in the Williamson County Sheriff's Office warrants division. Like Harmon, he dug back into the 80s archives for a spirited rendition of Pat Benatar's Hit Me With Your Best Shot.

Bastrop ISD Police Chief Jeffrey Yarbrough stepped up to the challenge, yielding one of the most entertaining bits of lip sync performances we've seen, perfectly mouthed with the Bruno Mars version and with subtle yet eloquent gesturing. It's also exceedingly fun to watch.

Here's the performance that started it all in Central Texas, with a little international flair from Mena in Bexar County starting things off with a bit of Kumbia Kings.

There's no telling what other lip-synced songs might emerge from this epic battle, but one thing's for sure: These are truly arresting performances.

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