Lieutenant Tom Van Dorn of the Phoenix Police Department wanted to connect with residents on a personal level, so he decided to dance with them at a block party.
The police officer joined several community members during an event for Fit Phoenix, which was created by Vice Mayor Daniel Valenzuela to promote a healthier city. They danced to Mark Ronson's ever so popular hit "Uptown Funk" featuring Bruno Mars.
"I firmly believe in the community based policing philosophy and finding ways to connect," Lt. Van Dorn said. "[It] helps foster and promote community confidence which is needed to help us in our crime suppression efforts."
Lieutenant Dorn joins a growing list of police officers who have gone viral for doing the same thing. There's New York City police officer Brendan James, who performed the “Cupid Shuffle" during the city's annual Gay Pride Parade. And who could forget Sacramento police Lieutenant Roman Murrietta, who joined children for the famous Nae Nae dance? Yet, it never gets old.
Many Facebook users commended Lieutenant Dorn for spending his time this way.
"Wow that's amazing," wrote one. "Just goes to show you there are many wonderful police officers out there and many communities who need a relationship like this."
Please SHARE if you'd like to see more police officers connecting with community members like this!
The event was the Si Se Puede Block watch party in Maryvale on August 13, 2015. Toward the end of the event Lt. Tom Van Dorn was asked if he would join in and dance to help motivate the kids for #fitphx (a program created by Vice Mayor Valenzuela to promote a healthier City of Phoenix). Little did he know, by dance, they meant it was a Zumba class! Lt. Van Dorn says, "I firmly believe in the community based policing philosophy and finding ways to connect…helps foster and promote community confidence which is needed to help us in our crime suppression efforts." So…he did the only thing he could do…he danced!*Special thanks to Lt. Tom Van Dorn for being a good sport and allowing us to post this to social media.
Posted by City of Phoenix Police Department on Thursday, August 20, 2015
