Lip-syncing, shimmying Skokie and Niles cops land a spot on national TV: Watch their videos here

Skokie Police Department

America is about to decide how well the police in Skokie and Niles know their beats.

Officers from the two north suburban police departments are among 30 groups in the running on “Lip Sync to the Rescue,” a CBS special counting down the best videos of first-responders dancing and emoting to hit songs.

Cedric the Entertainer hosts the show, airing at (7 p.m. Monday on WBBM-Channel 2, which will narrow down the videos to two and crown a winner based on live voting by viewers on Twitter.

CBS has posted the 30 videos chosen for the competition online at www.cbs.com/shows/lip-sync-to-the-rescue/vote.

The Skokie police submission features officers lip-syncing to the theme song from “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air” as well as songs by Queen (“We Will Rock You”), Sugarhill Gang (“Apache”), Psy (“Gangnam Style”), the Village People (“Macho Man” and “YMCA”) and others.

This video has gotten more than 1 million views on YouTube and 2.7 million views on Facebook and helped boost the number of Facebook followers the police department has by 70 percent.

Skokie police officers dance to the Sugarhill Gang’s “Apache (Jump on It)” in their lip-sync video.

Officer Robert Ochoa suggested his department take part because “law enforcement employees are presented to the public in a very different light, effectively showing that the people behind the badges are more than just cops and 9-1-1 dispatchers; they are also friends and neighbors.”

Ochoa directed, working with Heather Jackson, the owner of a dance studio, to develop the fist-pumping, hip-shaking choreography. It took a couple of days to rehearse for the video, according to Sgt. Denise Franklin, who’s been with the department for 16 years.

“We’re all excited,” Franklin says of the TV competition. “We knew the video was great.”

Originally posted in July 2018, the video ends with a challenge to police in Lincolnwood and Niles. Two months later, Niles cops answered with their own video.

Niles police employees dance to Katy Perry’s “Firework” in their lip-sync video.

One of the Niles community service officers who’s also a choreographer helped colleagues lip-sync to songs by Sean Kingston, Lil Mama, Pitbull, Jessie J, Katy Perry and others, with a mid-show pause for a mannequin challenge. The video has gotten 105,000 views on Facebook and about 25,000 on YouTube.

“It took us about two days to film the video,” says Sgt. Tony Scipione, who’s been with the department for 13 years. He sees the video as “a chance to show off a lighter side.”

Skokie and Niles both worked in a cameo by McGruff the Crime Dog.