October 29, 2015
ABC News/Screenshot
A police officer in D.C. accepted a dance-off in an effort to clear the streets.
A video of a dance-off between a Washington, D.C. police officer and a teenage girl has gone viral - not for the duo’s fine dancing abilities but for the message behind their moves.
According to The Washington Post, the dance battle began after officers broke up a fight between two groups of teenagers and then attempted to disperse the crowd.
While doing so, 17-year-old Washington, D.C. high-schooler Aaliyah Taylor reportedly approached the female officer seen in the video and started playing the song “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)” on her phone while dancing.
The officer, who has asked not to be named because she doesn’t want the focus to be on her, responded by initiating a dance battle with Taylor that ended in laughter and cheers from onlooking teens who captured and shared video of the interaction.
“Instead of us fighting, she tried to turn it around and make it something fun,” Taylor told The Washington Post. “I never expected cops to be that cool. There are some good cops.”
The Post reports that the officer has been with the force for about three years and recently returned from a tour of duty in Iraq.
The video has been met with positive reactions and is being applauded as a model of community policing done right.
Read the full report at The Washington Post.
