Officer busts a move instead of teens

WASHINGTON — Show me your hands, or your dance moves.

A D.C. police officer helped defuse a fight between teens in a Washington park by challenging one of them to a dance-off.

Aaliyah Taylor, 17, said a female officer arrived on Monday and when she saw Taylor dancing to the popular song Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae), the officer laughed and said she had better dance moves.

What happened next was a dance-off between the officer and the girl. Onlookers recorded the dance battle on their cellphones, according to The Washington Post, which posted the video at http://wapo.st/ 1GJBL1o.

The officer said if she won, the teens had to leave the area.

“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.”

The officer matched Taylor with each step. Taylor said the officer would have kept going, but after several minutes of dancing, the teen got tired, so the two hugged and everyone left the area.

Taylor later posted a video of the dance-off on Facebook, where it was viewed hundreds of thousands of times in less than 24 hours.

The officer told the newspaper that she didn’t want to be identified, saying the story wasn’t about her.

The officer has been with the force for about three years and recently returned from a tour of duty in Iraq.

Metropolitan Police Chief Cathy Lanier and Mayor Muriel Bowser praised the officer’s actions, as did President Barack Obama.

“Who knew community policing could involve the Nae Nae?” Obama said in a tweet.