The Deception of the Dancing Cop

The Good Cop v. Bad Cop debate isn’t just dishonest, it’s dangerous.

A video out of Columbus, Ohio began circulating the internet recently, this one showed a white police officer punching a black male resident in the face, without warning, without provocation. As Twitter joined forces to identify the officer, disappointment set in once it was discovered that the officer was somewhat of a local celebrity.

Officer Anthony L. Johnson, the same officer seen striking the unarmed Columbus resident in the viral video, gained notoriety as the “dancing cop”, a self-proclaimed peace officer who used urban dance moves and music to connect with inner-city residents. As his dancing videos circulated news stations, Officer Johnson received public praise for his exemplary community policing, ultimately resulting in his invitation to Harvard University, where he participated in a Q&A on impactful policing with undergraduate public policy students. Officer Johnson went on to share his story with the world, using his bad boy gone good cop image to gain the trust of communities he’d otherwise have no access to. And all Officer Johnson had to do was do a little dance.

But dancing cops are still cops, are they not? Since when has a little rhythm righted centuries of wrongdoing at the organizational level? We could be talking about Black churchgoers in…