What we're watching today: Whimsical Elgin police holiday video part of community outreach

The lights twinkle, flash and blink to the classic "Faeries" from the Nutcracker in a 2-minute YouTube video created by Elgin police.

By Saturday afternoon, the video, showing five police vehicles in front of the department with their lights synced to the classic tune, had garnered some 3,600 views.

Sure, that's a far cry from the 45 million views of the glitter bomb video a former NASA engineer made to combat porch package thieves.

But for Elgin police community outreach standards, it's hitting the mark.

"This one is getting a lot of views," said Kristie Hilton, Elgin Police Department spokeswoman. "Everybody seems to enjoy it. It's pretty cool. We try to come up with creative ways to engage the public."

Hilton said the idea was hatched by Detective Ray Oloris. Detectives Dan Rouse, T.J. Coffield and Sgt. Zach McCorkle in the Technical Investigations Unit also helped with the video.

Hilton said the holiday video is part of the department's ongoing efforts to engage the community. A video that police made earlier this year about how easy it is for a person to swipe a purse or wallet in a shopping cart also gained traction, she said.

The next video police are working on?

A public service announcement for people who leave their vehicles unattended while warming them up in the winter months, Hilton said. "They're a prime theft target," she said.