A Look Behind the Badge
Nicholas Perez is an officer in the City of Miami Police Department who has taken the internet by storm. His YouTube channel, Nick Off-Duty, is gaining more and more followers every day, and they’re all hungry for more of the behind the scenes police content he creates in his spare time. His videos cover everything from police gear reviews to survival tactics, but some of his most popular uploads are part of his police cars series — each episode ends with a custom coin giveaway.
So far, all the challenge coins have been supplied by different police departments being featured on the show, but Perez recently reached out to our Signature Coins team for help creating his own coin. We were more than happy to help, and are excited to see how they will continue to play a role in helping Nick Off-Duty and the Nod Squad community grow.
Nick Off-Duty and the Challenge Coin Giveaways
Perez got started on YouTube by creating a dedicated channel for the Miami PD and putting together the first ever vlog series presented by a police department. “Over three years, we gained 190,000 subscribers on YouTube, 106,000 on Facebook … we just blew up the platforms,” said Perez. He and his team at the Miami PD continue to produce excellent content, but viewers were clamoring for something more. “People always ask, ‘Hey, what do you do off-duty?’” said Perez. This simple line of questioning is what got the ball rolling on creating his own personal channel, Nick Off-Duty.
The followers of Nick Off-Duty are known as the Nod Squad, and when describing the custom coins we helped him design,
I dedicated those coins to them because in all actuality it’s about them. Yeah, my name is on one side of it … but on the other side of it, it says ‘Nod Squad Member Since 2018.
The Police community as a whole is a big focus of the Nick Off-Duty channel, and Perez is working to get exposure to as many different police departments as possible. When describing the Nod Squad, he said, "They’re hungry for Police content, and I’m a fan of everybody winning ... My guys love the police content, and, if you have a social media, well, let’s get them over to you."
The agencies being featured in Nick Off-Duty supply their own department challenge coins for the challenge coin giveaways. As a viewer, the only way to win one of the coins is to go to that agency's social media page after the video has aired, subscribe and comment “Nod Squad Represent!” so Perez can find you later on. Once that is done, a few lucky people are chosen at random and mailed one of the guest police department’s custom coins.
The Nick Off-Duty challenge coins will be used a little differently. While there may be a few giveaways here and there, the coins are going up for sale on Perez’s new Patreon account. All proceeds will be going towards creating bigger and better content for the channel.
Helping a Community Flourish with Social Media and Custom Police Challenge Coins
When describing his work on social media for the Miami Police Department, and for his own channel, Perez said, “Social media for police agencies is the number one recruiting tool.” By offering people an inside look at his own department, and his own life off-duty, Perez has inspired many members of his audience to join the police community by actually become sworn officers.
The Miami PD’s social media focus has been so successful with Perez at the helm that their last recruiting window had to be closed after just three hours. “We got 1,000 applications in three hours. The time before that, six hours,” he said. “And we put zero dollars into promoting … there was no boost, it was all organic.” Featuring other police departments around the state on his own channel is something Perez describes as a win-win because his viewers get to see more behind the scenes police content and different agencies are given the opportunity to expand their online presence.
The success of the Miami PD and Nick Off-Duty channels is proof that there are people searching to be a part of a unique, law enforcement community. Perez and the agencies he features want to tap into that community, share their message and expand their reach. What makes the police challenge coins so special is how they offer viewers a physical piece of that community to take home.
