A police officer in Plainview caught social media by storm, after a video showed him dancing to a popular song.
Officer Chris Abalos was seen dancing to Juju On That Beat, a song that has shot to stardom. The video was recorded by a coworker at the Plainview Police Department. He said the video hatched from a challenge set by his 13-year-old daughter.
“My daughter challenged me, she said that her dad, ‘old people’ could not do this dance. So I learned the dance, and challenge was accepted,” Abalos explained. “I got good at it and then, next (thing) you know, we’re doing the dance just playing around and they videotaped it.”
The video has reached more than 500,000 Facebook users.
Abalos, who has been with the department for five years, said he was surprised by the attention.
“I thought it was going to be… a joke within the police department and close friends and family, and I didn’t realize it was going to be shared to this magnitude,” he said.
“People view us as always serious, and they don’t realize that we let loose just like everybody else. This is just us letting loose after a long day at work,” he stated. “We’re just like everybody else. Just want to have fun.”
Plainview Police Chief Ken Coughlin said the video shows a lighter side of police work.
“Chris, he’s a dancing fool I guess,” said Coughlin with a smile.
“People like to see our officers in different light sometimes. We’re people too. We have families, we have kids, we interact with the community,” he added. “So it’s positive and I love to see things like that, you know, every time we try to show ourselves as something other than just the enforcement role.”
Coughlin emphasized the idea of community policing, which is a concept the department has actively used. Coughlin and other officers participated in a dance-off with kids in Plainview at a “Cops and Kids” event in April. That event helped the city earn national recognition for work in the community.
“We have a great department, the guys are always out doing so many positive things in the community,” Coughlin said.
“I’ve always been pro community policing because we are servants, public servants, and so, as such we need to serve the needs of our community, and that’s having to have a relationship,” he said.
Abalos, who trains new officers at the department, was named Plainview’s 2015 Officer of the Year. He plans to graduate in May with a degree in Justice Administration from Wayland Baptist University.
“This semester is really kind of messing with me because I’ve got so much going on right now, but, I’m alright,” Abalos explained.
Abalos hoped the new attention would shine a light on the positive work that police departments are doing locally, and nationally.
“We’re human and we do have a funny side to us. That was me just letting loose and just doing what we do in the comfort of our own home with our children and with the community, with the kids out here on the streets. That’s just the part that no one ever sees,” he said.
Reporter’s Note: Thanks to Jeremy Martinez for allowing use of the video of Officer Abalos, and thanks to Jane Botello for sharing it with EverythingLubbock.com. Thanks to Atlantic Records for allowing use of Juju On That Beat, by Zay Hilfigerrr & Zayion McCall.
