--- description: Although he didn't specifically mention her impressive moves title: Obama Praises 'Dance-Off' Policewoman image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [local](/tag/local/) ## local Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # D.C. Policewoman Who 'Danced Off' With Teenagers Praised by President Obama ## Video: Watch Obamas Sing Happy Birthday to Usher [Watch (HLS stream): Watch Obamas Sing Happy Birthday to Usher](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/TyG03h81.m3u8) (0:24)  _Published 2015-10-19. Watch Obamas Sing Happy Birthday to Usher_ by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 30, 2015 5:02 AM CUT by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 30, 2015 5:02 AM CUT In the midst of a heated debate over police brutality in the U.S., a viral video of a Washington, D.C., officer indulging in a dance-off with a teenager garnered praise from President Barack Obama as an example of positive law enforcement. Obama, in a post on Twitter, hailed the officer’s actions as a “great example of police having fun while keeping us safe.” > [](https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/659775465352249344) The “incident” took place on Monday at the U.S. capital city’s K Street, when police broke up two groups of fighting teenagers, following which the female officer approached and asked the crowd to disperse. But 17-year-old Aaliyah Taylor, instead, walked up to the officer while doing the [Nae Nae](http://time.com/4034862/whip-nae-nae-gym-class/ "undefined") as she played Silento’s hugely popular song on her phone, to which the officer responded by laughing and saying she had better dance moves. What happened next, well … see for yourself, in this now viral video Taylor shared on Facebook. “I thought all cops were cruel because that’s how I saw them,” the teenager [told](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2015/10/28/a-d-c-cop-tried-to-break-up-a-group-of-teens-it-ended-in-this-impressive-dance-off/ "undefined") the Washington _Post_. “I’ve now seen there are good cops out there.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4093915/washington-dc-obama-police-dance-off/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4093915/washington-dc-obama-police-dance-off/"},"headline":"D.C. Policewoman Who 'Danced Off' With Teenagers Praised by President Obama","datePublished":"2015-10-30T05:02:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T12:13:05.114Z","description":"Although he didn't specifically mention her impressive moves","url":"https://time.com/4093915/washington-dc-obama-police-dance-off/","keywords":["local","police","teenager","President Barack Obama","Washington D.C."],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rishi Iyengar","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/local/","name":"local"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4093915/washington-dc-obama-police-dance-off/","name":"D.C. Policewoman Who 'Danced Off' With Teenagers Praised by President Obama"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Watch Obamas Sing Happy Birthday to Usher","description":"Watch Obamas Sing Happy Birthday to Usher","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/TyG03h81/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-10-19T14:52:06.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/TyG03h81.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4093915/washington-dc-obama-police-dance-off/","duration":"PT24S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4093915/washington-dc-obama-police-dance-off/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```