PARSIPPANY — Police officers in many towns are working to improve their relationship with the public. In Parsippany, Officer Remo D’Alessandro is trying to do his part toward that goal.
His video blog — or vlog — offer a mix of earnestness and humor as they show officers performing their daily duties, or provide the public with information. D’Alessandro banters with colleagues but also asks serious questions about the job and challenges faced by officers.
“It’s not ‘Cops.’ It’s not a documentary. It’s just a look behind the scenes,” says D’Alessandro, 42, who has been a cop in Parsippany for 12 years, following five years in the Paterson police department.
Since the first one appeared on the department’s YouTube channel on Dec. 20, his aim has been to do them once a week. D’Alessandro said he does most of the work on the show off-duty, including editing, the most time-consuming part. He said he has gotten “very little negative feedback,” mostly involving the quality of microphone recordings.
All of his vlogs have drawn hundreds of viewers, and have been seen in Austria, Canada, London, Serbia and Russia, said D’Alessandro, who tracks the analytics of each episode.
VLOG 9 The Fun Stuff – Parsippany-Troy Hills Police Dept.
Asked about the vlogs, Police Sgt. Allan Griffin said they’re a way of humanizing the department.
“We want the public to know we’re men and women, just as they are, and we are here to serve the better needs of the community,” said Griffin, who is awaiting his vlog debut.
D’Alessandro said he got the idea from watching a vlog last spring of Miami police officers taking part in the ‘Running Man’ viral dance event.
His ninth vlog, entitled “The Fun Stuff,” was uploaded Thursday.
Running 4 minutes and 42 seconds, it opens with a series of photos of Parsippany police officers meeting with young children. Officers are shown taking part in the torch run for the Special Olympics and greeting students from China who visited police headquarters.
At one point, D’Alessandro is shown teaching children what to do if they see a firearm.
It had 1,202 views as of Monday morning, four days after being uploaded.
D’Alessandro’s most popular vlog, the second, features the night shift patrol on the Christmas weekend and has been viewed more than 30,000 times.
One clip shows two officers riding together, lamenting the portrayal of police in the media and their perception of increased danger in response to questions from D’Alessandro in the back seat. Sometimes people, the officers say, confuse arrogance with confidence.
That exchange ends with the officers playfully ‘forgetting’ to let him out of the back seat, ordinarily reserved for those under arrest.
“So I’ll just wait for them to let me out of the back because these doors don’t open. And, uh, guys, guys, g-, guys, really?” he shouts out to the officers as they head toward the department’s door, then turn and head back to the car to let D’Alessandro out.
“Thanks alot fellas,” he says. “Thin blue line fellas. Same team.”
Rob Jennings may be reached at rjennings@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @RobJenningsNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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