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Video of Asheville officers on slip and slide goes viral

Mackensy Lunsford
The Citizen-Times
Asheville officers joining in on the slip and slide fun.

 

ASHEVILLE - When Asheville Police Department senior officers Carrie Lee and Joe Jones answered a noise complaint and reports of a slip and slide in the middle of an Oakley neighborhood road, they found no laws being broken.

That's when the officers decided a little impromptu civic engagement was in order, and took the giant waterslide for a spin.

Or perhaps they were just looking to cool down. "Oh man, it was so hot," said Lee, who has been on the force for nearly four years.

Video of the officers joining in the slip-and-slide fun has since gone viral, and has been featured on Good Morning America, CNN and ABC affiliates around the nation. 

The video shows the officers romping with the 10 or so kids who were just "being kids," Lee said. They were also under adult supervision, she added.

"It wasn't unreasonable noise at all. There was no music playing. It was just kids laughing."

Lee wasn't surprised to find the slip and slide was not set up in the middle of the road, but rather safely set up along the side.

People tend to exaggerate, she said. And most people are also smart enough not to play in the middle of the street. 

"But I honestly was impressed with the magnitude of the slip and slide," Lee said. "I looked at my partner Joe, and said 'I'm good with it.'"

Rather than bust up the fun, Lee asked a neighbor to give her a trash bag so she could test the slide herself. "They didn't believe me, but I said 'No, I'm serious.'"

The trash bag wasn't the quickest way to get down the hill. Her 6-and-a-half-foot partner fared a bit better. 

"They ended up pulling out a big two-person tube for him because he obviously wouldn't fit in a trash bag. He's a large man, so he got some speed."

Lee is surprised by the national coverage. But she's no stranger to this type of community involvement.

She once slid down an inflatable slide in the Shiloh community. Another time, she got stuck on a slide during a preschool meet-and-greet. 

But Lee said she's grateful for the community appreciation — and also the fuel to add to the flames of a little friendly competition. "Someone told us we were cooler than the firemen," she boasted, laughing. 

Christina Hallingse, public information officer for the Asheville Police Department, said the department was "over the moon" about the coverage. 

While the public display of police officers having fun was spontaneous, she said the department has a number of officers who interact with the community on a regular basis. 

"It's not always caught on video, but it's not uncommon," she said. "Though this might be our first slip-and-slide officer."

Police Chief Tammy Hooper, she said, encourages this type of civic engagement.

"This is true community policing — having people see them as people, and not just officers," Hallingse said.