Cop busts awful dance moves for local kids

POLICE: "Return to your vehicles. Return to your homes."

"Just now, in the last few minutes, we've heard probably at least 10 more booms."

KMOV REPORTER: "You can see the chaos that broke out when the tear gas was used to disperse those crowds."

And whether agreeable or not, there's been no shortage of photos like these on social media — pointing to  the civil rights movement. This Twitter user wrote, "Behold our progress."

But amid the growing tensions this video has emerged.

The Kansas City Police Department posted it on YouTube after a resident sent it in. It shows officer Jeffrey Krebs having a Sunday morning dance-off with a group of local kids.

The department didn't hesitate to admit Krebs lost that battle by a long shot, joking on Facebook, "Maybe we'll start including dancing as a course at the Academy, because it sure looks like we could use it." 

The whole thing got started after Krebs was breaking it down for a fellow officer. They pulled into an east Kansas City neighborhood and spotted some kids also in the dancing mood.

​KSHB explains all it took next was a couple Jolly Ranchers for the kids and the dance competition was on.

REPORTER: "A series of flailing arms and toe taps he calls the octopus."

KREBS: "The octopus, yes. Then this other kid came out and showed me how he does the octopus."

Eh, we vote they both got it wrong. But no matter.

It was safety first as the officers gently made sure the kids cleared the road as a car passed by.

When it comes down to it, one of the most important aspects of this story is what Krebs had to say — not necessarily about the video itself, but why he didn't hesitate to get out of the car and interact with the kids.

"When I went through the academy and when I first got hired on I told them how I wanted to interact with the community and start building some rapport with the citizens because I feel like if we build rapport with them then they are more likely to call us when they need us."