President Obama has praised a police officer in Washington for defusing a confrontation between teenagers by challenging one of them to a dance-off. The incident occured on Monday (26 October) when two groups of youths were caught up in a brawl and a crowd had gathered at the scene.

The policewoman asked the crowd to disperse when a 17-year-old girl confronted her as she danced to the track Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae). The officer told the teenager, named Aailya Taylor, that she had better moves and challenged her to a dance-off, on the condition that if the officer won, the girls and her friends would leave.

Showing off her best moves, the officer managed to out-dance Aaliyah in the contest that lasted for several minutes. Once the teenager gave up, admitting defeat, the pair hugged and the group dispersed as promised.

Aaliyah later told TMZ: "No one was worried about the argument anymore. The neighborhood was getting crowded...the attention was on us. Everyone was just looking at us. It was a good experience. 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," she added.

The video caught the eye of POTUS who tweeted: "Who knew community policing could involve the Nae Nae? Great example of police having fun while keeping us safe."

Taylor posted a video of the incident on Facebook. The video has since gone viral, with more than 4,000 Facebook shares in two days.

The incident was in stark contrast to a situation in McKinney when a police officer was filmed pinning a 14-year-old girl in a bikini to the ground at a pool party. David Casebolt was suspended after he was videoed pointing a gun at children and brutally manhandling a young black girl, after responding to a disturbance at the Craig Ranch North Community Pool on 5 June.

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