Monday, November 02, 2015

As Cops Broke Up A Streetfight, This Happened ...

One day last week a group of teenagers in Washington DC were fighting in the streets and someone called the police; what happened next is kind of shocking, given all we’ve seen in the news of late.

When police officers arrived on the scene, they immediately set about breaking up the altercation, but as a few kids lingered after the fight, a female officer approached the group and told them all to go home.

That’s when seventeen-year-old Aaliyah Taylor walked right up to that police officer and started playing “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)” on her phone, and then she started the Nae Nae dance.,

Did the officer shoot her? Arrest her? Hurl her to the ground? No, she laughed at Aaliyah and said she had better moves than the girl did; and it was on.

A dance-off between the police officer and the girl and just another example of how positivity can defuse a situation that might have, could have, gotten ugly and out of hand.
“Instead of us fighting, she tried to turn it around and make it something fun. I never expected cops to be that cool. There are some good cops.”—Aaliyah Taylor
The police officer told the group that if Taylor won the dance-ff, the teens could stay, but if she won, the group would have to leave. The two danced for a few minutes face-to-face until Aaliyah Taylor said the officer would have kept going, but she got tired.
“I mostly hold my head down when I dance, so I didn’t really see her. But when I looked at the video after, I was like ‘Oh, she has some moves.’” — Aaliyah Taylor
Aaliyah and the police officer each declared themselves the better dancers, and then they hugged it out and everyone moved along. No gun shots; no beatings; no teens hurled to the ground. Just a little Nae Nae and some stanky leg.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering, the officer in question was called by the Washington Post for this story and said she didn’t want her name used because she didn’t want to make the story about her.
“It’s kind of embarrassing that this became so big. This is what we do every day.”
Protect and Serve … and maybe dance a little, too.


7 comments:

  1. Not just moves, but a smart move.

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  2. HA! This is great. :-)

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  3. shakin' the money maker! good sense on the police part!

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  4. loved this story!
    humor and kindness can save a lot of situations.
    what i remember most about the quasi criminals i
    taught were the laughs we shared.

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  5. Smart and talented! That's what we need.

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  6. It made the news bulletins on this side too. Very Austin Powers!

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  7. Community engagement has to beat beating the community up.

    Sadly when our local police constables joined in with a crowd of teenagers who were sledding, a couple of winters ago, they were all put on notice that community engagement is not what the police are all about!

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