Watch this D.C. cop do gymnastics with local kids
A Facebook video shows a police officer doing gymnastics, connecting with kids.
An officer with the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department used an unorthodox method to connect with local kids -- by engaging in a spirited flipping competition with them.
Officer Arthur Brown Jr. can be seen on a Facebook video doing acrobatics against some of the children.
It begins with one boy rounding off, before landing feet first from a backflip. Brown can then be seen stretching, clearing himself ample runway and performing a somersault backflip of his own, all in full uniform. Off camera, he'd handed his belt to his partner.
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"The hardest part is trying to connect to the community,” Brown told ABC News.
He patrols Washington D.C.’s Seventh District, east of the Anacostia River, on a mountain bike. Stopping to shoot hoops or race bicycles down the street is just a part of community outreach.
"I'm not going to change who I am just because I've got a badge," he said.
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Before he was a police officer, Brown worked with children as a volunteer for youth church services, and later as a barber.
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"Kids are more open-minded than adults," Brown said of their role in community policing. "They help us change adults', parents' minds."