THE NYPD detective who was filmed pole-dancing in a strip club in a raunchy rap video has been pulled from duty.
Melissa Mercado, a member of the Special Victim’s Unit in the Bronx, made a surprising move by appearing in a video for hip-hop artist S-Quire, where she traded her uniform for lingerie.
Her involvement in the video for ‘Doin’ That’ caught attention when it quickly went viral, amassing over 1.6 million views within a month. This unexpected revelation led to criticism from members of the New York police force.
Following the uproar, a spokesperson for the NYPD has confirmed that Mercado’s participation is now being investigated. As a result, she has been relieved of her duties as the matter is looked into, as reported by The New York Post.
The veteran detective who has been with the police force for seven years will not be able to investigate any active cases while under investigation, the sources said.
Her position in the Special Victim’s Unit sees her investigate crimes of a sexual nature.
But the NYPD has not said if her behaviour breaches any specific rules of the force.
In the video, Mercado can be seen twerking around a pole, giving a lap dance, and crawling on the floor of a strip club, while being showered in dollar bills.
As the officer debuted her curves for all to see in the NSFW video, S-Quire ogled her while licking his lips and spitting X-rated bars.
The lyrics include lines like: “A** is thick. Just want to smash it quick” and “I like the way she doin that, the way she sliding up the pole”.
Both the rapper and the production company Pitch Perfect who hired her have said that they did not know of Mercado’s day job.
“None of us were aware of … what her main profession was,” the director told TMZ.
S-Quire noted that he only knew the 28-year-old by the nickname “Honeybee”.
Nothing in the video identifies Mercado as a police officer, but after the video gained millions of views, fellow colleagues recognised her.
The officer has been slammed by former and current members of the force, especially for her role in the Special Victims Unit and the behaviour she exhibited on camera.
Retired NYPD Special Victims Division Chief Michael Osgood said: “I think this conduct is unbecoming a police officer.
“I find it wrong morally if you’re a special victims detective.”
One detective told the Daily Mail: “I really don’t understand why this woman would do something that dumb.
“We are supposed to be held to a higher standard as role models.”
“I have no words,” another disgusted detective said.
Eric Saunders, a lawyer and former NYPD officer added that her actions are “inconsistent with the values and professional standards the public expects from law enforcement – especially those entrusted with investigating sensitive cases involving special victims.”
He called for the police department to review her conduct, caseload and fitness for duty as he feared a decline in public confidence in the force.
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But a source from the police union told The New York Post that the $144,000-a-year grade 3 cop’s actions “really have nothing to do with her as an employee, as an NYC detective.”
“She’s not wearing NYPD paraphernalia. Nothing in the video says she’s a detective,” they added.
While some of her colleagues may not be impressed, viewers were, and ‘Honeybee’ is now a highly sought after dancer and model, according to Pitch Perfect.
“Everyone loved this model,” the director told TMZ, calling her “one of the stars” of the video as the rapper agreed calling her a “beautiful woman.”
“I’ve had tons of artists reach out trying to get her in their video,” the production company said.
“If you look at it like that, it might be a great thing for her. I think she wins”
Mercado has not publicly spoken about being in the video or the subsequent backlash.
