Who is Melissa Mercado? NYPD Detective goes viral for twerking and pole dancing in rapper's music video

A female officer of the law named Melissa Mercado is currently trending online after her appearance on New York rapper S-Quire’s Doin That music video went viral, earlier this month.

Officially uploaded on the WORLDSTARHIPHOP page on February 7, 2025, the woman in the video was recently identified as New York Police Department Detective, Melissa Mercado, who works in the special victims unit.

In the 3 minutes and 46 seconds music video, set in a New York City strip club, the law enforcement officer appeared in a g-string/ thong and a bra as a woman who “loves the pole” as per S-Quire’s lyrics. Mercado was seen twerking, pole dancing, giving lap dances, and sprawling out on a bed.

The music video of S-Quire’s track was directed by Picture Perfect and distributed by WORLDSTARHIPHOP. It has amassed over 1.4 million views in less than a month.

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More about Melissa Mercado and the ongoing drama surrounding her

Melissa Mercado is a grade-3 NYPD detective who has been working in the special victims unit in Bronx for the last seven years, as per the New York Post. She reportedly earns $144,000 per year and joined the force in 2018.

Recently, she appeared as Keisha, the protagonist of rapper S-Quire’s latest number, Doin That as evident from the opening lyrics:

“Wanna tell you ’bout a girl named Keisha., a** thick, just want to smash it quick/ I like the way she’s doing that, the way she’s sliding up the pole.”

The music video featuring Melissa Mercado shows her scantily clad and dancing on a stripper pole followed by other seemingly provocative visuals. Some social media users have criticized her for the feature. So far, it remains unclear whether Mercado will face any disciplinary action from NYPD.

“What she’s doing really has 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. If she is performing for money, if she has a side gig, the job would want to know about that,” the police union told The NY Post in a statement.

They continued:

“The member would be obligated to file an off-duty employment application. I would say nothing she does in the video is the department’s business.”

Meanwhile, retired NYPD officer Eric Sanders told the Daily Mail that Melissa Mercado’s behavior/ actions didn’t align “with the values and professional standards the public expects from law enforcement – especially those entrusted with investigating sensitive cases involving special victims.”

“The department must conduct a thorough review of this detective’s conduct, caseload, and overall fitness for duty to ensure accountability and maintain public confidence in its officers,” Sanders added.

Meanwhile, another source claimed to The Post that Melissa Mercado was respected among her peers. Retired NYPD Special Victims Division Chief Michael Osgood also expressed his concerns about Melissa Mecardo’s off-duty hustle.

“There’s a line of thinking that what you do off duty, you do off duty. But I think this conduct is unbecoming a police officer. I find it wrong morally if you’re a special victims detective,” Osgood shared.

Notably, S-Quire told Daily Mail that the music video was shot in 2022 at Club Vanity in NYC and called Melissa Mercado a “friend” with whom he connected via Picture Perfect. However, as per the Hempstead rap artist, he did not know her profession.

“I didn’t know what she did for a living. She doesn’t seem like a detective. When you think of detectives, you think of Special Victims Unit on the TV… She just wanted to help me out with the video, help me get my vision out,” S-Quire stated.

He added thinking that Melissa Mercado “had a great look,” and defended her by saying how she may have thought that the “video wasn’t going to go anywhere.”

Mercado has yet to respond to the same.