What happened from there on the 200 block of K Street SW was a rather impressive dance-off between the police officer and the teen, and an example of positive community policing at a time when national attention is focused on discriminatory and abusive police tactics. The onlooking teens caught the dance battle on their cell phones while a song by rapper Dlow played in the background.
Instead of us fighting, she tried to turn it around and make it something fun, Taylor said. I never expected cops to be that cool. There are some good cops.
Taylor said the officer told the group that if the teens won the dance-off, they could stay. If the officer won, they would have to leave.
The two danced for a few minutes face-to-face stanky leg and all and Taylor said the officer would have kept going, but she got tired. Both Taylor and the officer declared themselves the victors, hugged and everyone left the area.
I mostly hold my head down when I dance, so I didnt really see her, Taylor said. But when I looked at the video after, I was like Oh, she has some moves.
When reached by phone, the officer in the video said she did not want to be identified because she didnt want to make the story about her. Its kind of embarrassing that this became so big, she said. This is what we do everyday. The officer has been with the force for about three years and recently returned from a tour of duty in Iraq.
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