Officers crash girl’s 13th birthday party – decide if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em!

Dispatched to a home after receiving a complaint of excessive noise, two Riverside PD police officers who responded to the scene to investigate handled the situation in the best possible way – when one of the officials joined the 13-year-old birthday girl and her friends for a quick dance.

A short video of the officer busting a move to the song “Cupid Shuffle” with the teens, which was filmed by the second officer and later shared on Riverside PD’s Facebook page, quickly went viral and within two hours of being posted had already been viewed more than 36,000 times and shared nearly 700 times.

The incident happened Friday night around 8:30 p.m., in Riverside’s Wood Street’s neighborhood and by Saturday afternoon the now viral video was already the talk of the town.

Contacted for information about the loud noise complaint, Riverside Police Officer Ryan Railsback explained, “Once there, the officers heard this song playing and then discovered it was a birthday party for the homeowner’s 13-year-old.”

“One joined in the fun dance and both stayed for about 10-15 minutes, interacting with the teens and parents,” said Railsback. “The homeowners turned the music off as the party was ending around 9 p.m. anyway and in the end, everybody had a great time and the original problem was resolved.”

Raphaela Nelson, whose daughter Taylor was celebrating her 13th birthday with a group of her friends, later talked about the party and the two officers who responded to her home.

“I just want to thank them so much!” Nelson enthused the morning after the party. “It was amazing to see them interact with kids who are at that age, where they sometimes lose themselves to peer pressure or bad choices.”

Some of these kids have never interacted with police officers at all,” Nelson continued. “They have voices and opinions … and I know that because of this event they will be more apt to go to our officers for help or direction.”

“To those two gentlemen – I appreciate your kindness, your humor, and your humanity!”

Loni Mason, whose daughter was at the party also talked about the prior evening’s party crashers Saturday morning saying, “I love this. Thank you RPD for allowing these kids to enjoy their night.”

“This makes me want to be a police officer,” Mason continued, writing on social media, “just so I can crash parties uninvited and help other kids enjoy their special nights!”

Other area residents chimed in on social media with positive feedback and messages of encouragement such as, “This is why I 💙my city!” Another area resident wrote, “Can I get that officer to crash my party!”

Others responded with messages of gratitude and encouragement for the way the officers responded writing, “Love this! What a fun memory for the 13 year old!!!” and “To serve and protect and party 🎉! Awesome!” as well as, “This is what we need to see more of on social media…I love it!”

Riverside resident Diana Smith also responded to the now viral video writing, “This is outstanding.”

“This officer did more for our city in a few minutes of fun then any press release could,” Smith continued. “These kids will have more respect for authority now and he solved the citizen complaint. High 5 officer!”

Railsback explained Saturday afternoon, “Anytime our officers can engage with our community members, especially our youth, leads to the opportunity to make a positive difference in someone’s life.”

“We come across many different people each day who are experiencing unfavorable circumstances, and police officers or deputies are called to help intervene in a very serious situation. Those situations dictate serious resolutions,” Railsback continued.

“But once in a while when appropriate, officers and deputies like to have fun to help resolve a problem and be really engaging at the same time,” Railsback explained. “Last night’s call to this birthday party was a great opportunity to show the teens that officers are normal people, moms, dads, husbands, wives, etc., who like to have good clean fun too.”

Riverside Police Department video

 

Contact the writer: [email protected]

Trevor Montgomery, 46, recently moved to Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes for several other news organizations, including Riverside County based newspapers, Valley News, The Valley Chronicle and Anza Valley Outlook, as well as Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County and The Mountain Echo in Shasta County.

Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations, including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center and Lake Elsinore Station, along with other locations.