All the right moves
North Bergen Local 18 member’s dance party goes viral
n BY BRITTANY KRUGEL
Law enforcement officers definitely come across situations
that require a quickstep or two, maybe more. They not only
have to be quick and sharp to take catch the bad guy, but fast
on their feet.
North Bergen Local 18 Officer Omi Devers recently used his
fancy footwork and slick moves to further another increasing-
ly important aspect of the job: connecting with the kids in his
community.
A video posted to Devers’ Facebook page on July 12 of him
doing a dance choreographed by his children Beberly and Brad-
ley to the song “I Wanna Fly” with kids at Fulton Elementary
School generated more than one million views.
Although by far the most popular, the July 12 Facebook video
was only the latest of several “Wiggle Dance” videos of Devers
dancing with North Bergen elementary students posted the
previous two months.
Devers explains that his Latin background may have some-
thing to do with his love for music and his knack for finding the
rhythm. He came to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic at
the age of 14. He eventually attended the City College of New
York majoring architecture.
“My passion for music was stronger, so I decided to create a
Spanish music group,” he explained. “I was the songwriter, the
producer and the lead singer. I was known in the music world
as ‘Mr. Omi.’”
Although love for music may run deep in his heritage, the
love for law enforcement runs even deeper. His older brother,
Daulyn Devers, has been a police officer in New York City for 17
years.
Now on the job in North Bergen for seven years, Devers has
made a huge impact on the community with his recent videos.
“It is a gratifying experience knowing that the public per-
ceived my dance with the kids as a positive interaction with our
community’s youth,” Devers added.
So how did this dance come to be? Devers gives all of the
credit to his children. Before Devers and his children performed
the dance in front of the group of students, Beberly and Brad-
ley preformed the dance in China on a local children’s televi-
sion program. In fact, the two children who are dancing next to
Devers in the Facebook video are Beberly and Bradley, which
might explain why they dance with such enthusiasm.
Besides watching his children thrive and entertain the crowd,
Devers enjoyed the reaction from the students themselves.
“Right after I performed the Wiggle Dance, a few kids came
over to me to give me high-fives,” Devers shared. “They made
comments like, ‘What a cool officer’ and, ‘We’ve never seen an
officer dance like that.’”
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NEW JERSEY COPS
■ SEPTEMBER 2017
North Bergen Local 18 Officer Omi Devers leads the students at Fulton
Elementary in the “Wiggle Dance” with his daughter Beberly, left, and son
Bradley.
Beberly, Omi and Bradley Devers demonstrate the “Wiggle Dance.”
He is certain that this video will reinforce kids to view cops as
their friends. He got the idea to promote a healthy relationship
between youth and police officers from his own department.
“I was able to accomplish the recommendations of our chief,
Robert J. Dowd,” Devers noted. “He is very big on community
policing. He encourages the whole department to positively in-
teract with the public.”
For those who might want to see more of Devers’ entertaining
dances, he promises that more videos are on the way.
“The future videos will definitely show more officers, and it
might also become a challenge to other police departments in
order for them to encourage their officers to create similar posi-
tive interactions with the kids by performing the Wiggle Dance,”
Devers confirmed. d