(WSVN) - We’re starting a new feature on 7News. Each Friday, we’ll shine a light on people who make South Florida the special place that it is. Tonight, we introduce you to a group of officers who come together to make music and forge a bond with their community. Kevin Ozebek shines the light on them in tonight’s 7 Spotlight.
From patrolling the streets to dropping beats, a group of South Florida police officers does more than protect and serve.
Lt. Rudy Brown, Plantation Police Department: “Obviously, by day, I’m a police officer, but by night I also gig with a band.”
This is Lt. Rudy Brown, the founder and drummer of the Plantation Police Department band, also known as…
Lt. Rudy Brown: “The Fuzz.”
The Fuzz has been a passion project of Lt. Brown’s for years, ever since he started working for the department in 2007.
But the idea took off when he was offered a new opportunity at work.
Lt. Rudy Brown: “I got placed in charge of our newly formed community engagement unit. I was like, ‘Finally, this is the opportunity that I have to start this band!'”
Lt. Brown convinced his higher-ups that a band could help the unit interact with the community. With their approval, he recruited the members he needed.
Officer Cris Palmieri spent years in a rock band before joining the Plantation Police Department. When he told Lt. Brown about his past, it did not take long before he found himself behind the mic.
Officer Cris Palmieri, Plantation Police Department: “And it just happened.”
Lt. Brown then rounded up a few more members.
Lt. Rudy Brown: “Officer Jeff Beauregard.”
Officer Jeff Beauregard, Plantation Police Department, singing: “Those were the best days of my life!”
Lt. Rudy Brown: “Officer Chris Powell.”
Lt. Rudy Brown: “Officer Paul Cunningham.”
With the addition of bass player and City of Plantation IT employee Marcus Hurt, The Fuzz was formed in 2021.
The band practices every week at the department’s community outreach center in the Broward Mall.
Lt. Rudy Brown: “We get a lot of great reaction from the people just walking by our storefront. They’re just really surprised at the fact that we’re police officers playing music.”
They say the reaction from the crowd is always fun to see.
Officer Cris Palmieri: “Usually it’s the jaw drop. It’s the ‘What?'”
Lt. Brown says The Fuzz has become the department’s biggest and most creative way to engage the community.
Lt. Rudy Brown: “This has been an invaluable tool to accomplish that goal. The biggest part of that is, it’s humanizing the badge.”
It shows how law enforcement, and the people they serve, can connect through music.
Officer Cris Palmieri: “When I get up on stage, they don’t look at me and go, ‘Oh, there’s a police officer.’ They go, ‘There’s a musician.'”
Thanks to a few officers with a lot of musical talent, this department is hitting a high note with the community.
If you know someone, some group, or some place we should spotlight, send us an email at 7spotlight@wsvn.com. We’d love to hear from you.
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