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Gainesville, Florida Police Officer Responds To 911 Call About Basketball Game Being ‘Too Loud’ — Video Goes Viral

By Stephen Jordan
Published on: 07:33 PST, Jan 22, 2016

Gainesville, Florida, Police Officer Bobby White was responding to a 911 call about some local kids playing basketball and being too loud on January 15, 2016. Officer White, at around 5 p.m., was dispatched to the location, with the dash-cam recording the entire event, reports Rolling Stone. White approaches one of the young kids holding a basketball and, quite surprisingly, jokes about the fact that someone made a 911 call about them playing basketball “loudly in the streets.”

“Can you believe that someone’s calling to complain about kids playing basketball in the street?” Officer White said, almost incredulously. “Can you believe it?”

Officer Bobby White, from the looks of it, was not intent on disciplining any of their behavior. The boy he is speaking with responds, although it is inaudible and we are unable to hear what he is saying. But shortly after, White grabs the ball and starts shooting hoops with the teenagers. As this goes on, more and more kids from the neighborhood begin to notice and watch until there is a large crowd of kids watching this impromptu basketball game.

Officer White was also talking with the teens as they were playing, even as he delivered one spectacular dunk.

“You guys play out here every day?” White asked, towards the end of the video. “I might bring some backup. You guys gonna be out here tomorrow? I’m going to try to bring some backup out here tomorrow; we’ll get a little game going.”

Just before Officer White leaves the game, he tells the teens not to be “too loud.” Although he immediately says that he personally doesn’t have a problem with them playing basketball in the street.

The video has been receiving quite a bit of attention not only on Facebook but on Twitter as well, with the video now at several million views. A lot of people are giving the officer praise for how he handled the situation, and the Gainesville Police Department’s Facebook Page has even responded to all of the attention the viral video has been getting.

“Wow. One MILLION people have now seen Officer White’s style of policing. We hope that it inspires other officers! We are overwhelmed with the amount of support. Officer White WILL try for a full game coming soon! Please make sure to give our page a like as well!”

Gainesville Police Department’s Facebook Page also stated that this is how they will be handling complaints about kids being too loud. They are going to let the kids be kids and only put their major attention on ones who commit actual crimes.

“As the sun rises in Florida…our video is now almost at 4 million views. Unreal. We are proud to be able to be a positive light for law enforcement in today’s view of officers. Not all of us that wear the badge are perfect. Not even close. But we know there are thousands of officers around the country that are just like this. Thanks for the incredible support!”

With the alarming and overwhelming amount of cases involving officers shooting unarmed teens, specifically unarmed black men, it was extremely refreshing for people to see a police officer handle a 911 call without anyone having to get hurt, shot, or killed. In cases such as this, the situation could have easily turned ugly, and it is quite a nice surprise to see a responsible police officer – even one with a sense of humor – properly and appropriately react to a 911 call in his area.

In addition to this, Corporal Clinton, Corporal Kikendall, and Officer Hopkins of the Gainesville Police Department were awarded the Governor’s Medal of Heroism at a ceremony this week. Last summer, Clinton Hopkins and Kikendall responded to people being trapped inside of a house fire, and they were all able to get everyone out of the house safely.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUJY82svsog

[Image via Gainesville Police Department]

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