Recently released dashcam video of a Dover, Delaware police officer lip-syncing to Taylor Swift’s hit song “Shake It Off” went viral after the department posted it on Facebook and YouTube.
It was not immediately clear when the video was taken, but according to a post on the Dover Police Department’s Facebook page from Friday, they “came across” the footage during a review of dashcam videos.
“We hope you enjoy this…and Taylor Swift if you’re watching…we’re sorry,” the tongue-in-cheek post read.
The “talented singer” was identified in a separate Facebook post simply as “Officer Davis.” CNN later named him as Dover Police Master Cpl. Jeff Davis.
Officials decided to share the video with the public as part of a new web series they’re calling “Dash Cam Confessionals.”
The goal of releasing it was to counter negative perceptions of police and show a different side to them, Dover Police Cpl. Mark Hoffman told CNN.
“We’re trying to humanize police officers,” Hoffman said. “People tend to look at us as robots with uniforms and gun belts so we wanted to a show a lighter side of our force.”
The department told CNN the video was part of its social media outreach, and that it had actually been planned and shot in a Dover parking lot.
In less than 24 hours, the video had garnered attention from local and national media outlets.
As of Saturday morning, it had been shared more than 7,000 times and received 4,000 likes in two separate posts, according to the Facebook page.
CNN contributed to this story.
