SEBASTIAN — Miracle can’t see, but she sure can sing.
Well, not really, but that didn’t stop the Sebastian Police Department from making the mini-potbellied pig the star of its lip sync challenge video.
“By now, there have been so many (lip sync) videos,” Sebastian Community Policing Officer Jason Gillette said. “We wanted to do something a bit different to make ours stand out more.”
Officers released the department’s lip sync video through Facebook on Monday afternoon. The video contest by Sebastian police comes less than a week after the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office released its own version of the challenge, joining other law enforcement organizations across the country.
The video shows Miracle the pig, an unofficial mascot for the police department, being arrested for “impersonating an officer.”
Officers chose Miracle as their unofficial mascot because she is blind, was born premature and was not expected to live, Gillette said. Police take Miracle to several community events for kids to pet.
The pig can be seen riding along with officers in a patrol car in the challenge video.
Video provided by Sebastian Police Department. *Note for videos – Click the audio icon in the lower right hand corner for sound.
The video opens with Gillette and Officer Tegpreet “Preet” Singh sitting in a police car talking about small town Sebastian. Aerial drone footage then takes viewers above Sebastian Boulevard, past four police K-9 units and then to the City of Sebastian welcome sign.
Gillette and Singh then sing lyrics to the upbeat, heartland rock song “Small Town” by John Mellencamp.
“We wanted a song that would match us,” Gillette said. “Sebastian has a small town feeling.”
In one scene, dispatchers radioed the officers about a “suspicious person in a patrol car at the police station.” When police arrived, they saw the “suspect,” Miracle, in the driver’s seat eating donuts.
The officers then lured the 8-year-old pig with more donuts to “arrest” her. Even though Miracle is blind, she can still smell food, Gillette said.
Miracle is then seen in a holding cell with an orange jumpsuit that reads “Indian River County Jail.” The “impersonating an officer charge” in the video pokes fun at the fact some people call police “pigs,” Gillette said.
Miracle joined about 20 police department personnel, including officers and dispatchers, who participated in the challenge while off-duty. Gillette and Singh filmed the video in a few hours.
Throughout the video, viewers can see pictures of different city events, such as the Special Olympics Torch Run Fundraiser, a Fourth of July celebration and more. Viewers can also see police personnel, including Chief Michelle Morris, dancing inside the police station lobby and inside the dispatch room.
Residents also danced to the tune at different spots around town, including in front of Park Place mobile home park.
Toward the end of the video, drone footage captures a patrol car with flashing lights on Indian River Drive. The drone then gives viewers an aerial view of the Indian River Lagoon.
Viewers can watch the video on the Sebastian Police Department Facebook page.
Details on if police departments for Vero Beach, Fellsmere and Indian River Shores will participate in the viral contest were not available.