Police in California accused of trying to censor video by playing songs from ‘Toy Story’ and ‘Mulan’

‘I’m embarrassed that this is how you’re treating my neighbours’, said council member at the scene

A Santa Ana council member and police officer discussing the songs being played (Santa Ana Audits / YouTube)

Police in southern California were caught playing songs from popular Disney films such as Mulan,T oy Story and Encanto in an apparent attempt at censorship.

On Monday, YouTube user Santa Ana Audits said they came across what looked like the end of a car chase after half a dozen police cars arrived in the neighbourhood.

Not long into the clip, the song “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” from the 1995 Disney classic Toy Story can be heard playing loudly from a police car.

The much-beloved track is followed “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” from Encanto and “Reflection” from Mulan, with the YouTube user asking (in Spanish) an officer for Santa Ana Police Department if they “get paid to listen to music”.

He says earlier in the video that the music is being played “Because he knows that on my [YouTube] channel, I can’t upload videos with music in them.”

Videos posted to YouTube and other online platforms with copyrighted music are censored and often removed to prevent claims – leading to police departments across the US using songs to stop video footage from their activity going online.

A Santa Ana council member and police officer discussing the songs being played (Santa Ana Audits / YouTube)

A recent example was seen in Beverly Hills, California, where police played The Beatles songs during the filming of an arrest, according to Vice News. A police department in Alama County, California, meanwhile got caught playing Taylor Swift for the same reason.

Towards the end of the 12-minute video uploaded by Santa Ana Audits, council member Johnathan Ryan Hernandez arrived at the scene, who asked an officer: “What’s going on with the music? Why are you doing this?”

“This is my district,” Mr Hernandez said. “I’m embarrassed that this is how you’re treating my neighbours. There’s children here. Have some respect for my community.”

The Independent has approached Santa Ana police for comment.