Dance power: DC cop and teen turn confrontation into dance-off
A Washington, DC police officer who had been seeking to disperse two groups of young people on K Street, ended up in a dance-off when challenged by one of the teenagers to do the Nae Nae.
The dance-off between the police officer and teenager happened Monday afternoon, just as national attention was focused on police aggression again after a video surfaced showing a South Carolina police officer body slamming a female high school student. The teens in DC were reportedly fighting when the officer approached them.
“Instead of us fighting, she tried to turn it around and make it something fun,” said Aaliyah Taylor, the 17-year-old Ballou High School senior who challenged the police officer, according to the Washington Post. “I never expected cops to be that cool. There are some good cops.”
So basically I was trynna get to this girl but the police told me to go home so we made this deal if i win u leave but if u win I step andddddd she step ✌🏽️
Posted by Adore Liyah on Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Taylor said the officer told the group that if the teen won the dance-off, the teens could stay. If the officer won, they would have to leave.
Taylor posted the video on her Facebook page and, as of Wednesday evening, it had over 350,000 views. In the video, as Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae) plays on Taylor’s phone, both she and the officer danced for a few minutes face-to-face, and the teen told the officer she would have to keep going. Each side claimed they were the winners of the dance off and hugged each other before everyone left the area, the Post reported.
Taylor said she mostly danced with her head down so she didn’t see what the officer was doing, “but when I looked at the video after, I was like ‘Oh, she has some moves.’”
Told you DC cops were cool, and still are. https://t.co/GennwkPE14
— Toby Brown (@SymphonyJah) October 28, 2015DC police confirmed the officer in the video is an officer with the department, but didn’t provide her name to the media.
The DC police union told the Post that such interactions between police and residents aren’t unusual, but most of them don’t make it to the internet.
“We are humans just like everyone else,” Marinos Marinos, secretary of the DC police union, told the Post. “Everyday we come in contact with thousands of citizens and almost all of them have positive outcomes.”
Marinos added the officer had about 40 pounds of equipment and clothes, so it likely wasn’t even a fair competition.
