Texas Police Officers Making Heartwarming Quinceañera Memories

Texas police officers are usually very familiar with the Latino Quinceañera tradition, where a girl celebrates her transition to womanhood upon her fifteenth birthday. There is a vibrant Latino community in much of Texas, and often officers are hired to work these large and extravagant celebrations. Lately, Texas officers have been going above and beyond to make these Quinces feel special.

In the Dallas suburb of Balch Springs, an officer found what he presumed to be a trash bag at the side of the road. It turned out to be a misplaced Quinceañera dress in its protective bag. Carefully chosen and costing hundreds or even thousands of dollars, a Quince dress is precious to its owner, second only to her future wedding dress.

The officer knew how distraught the young girl who lost her dress must be, so the Balch Springs department has launched a search via social media and word of mouth for the owner. As of July 9, no owner has been found, but the officers remain optimistic that they will reunite dress and girl.

Over the 2018 Fourth of July weekend, a Houston police officer made the sweetest connection with a six-year-old girl at a Quinceañera.

The small girl, who is in a wheelchair, charmed officer Sandy Fernandez so much that he asked her to dance. The party’s DJ, Juan Mancha, caught the precious duo twirling on his cell phone camera and posted it to his social media page. From there, the video of the cute moment went viral online.

Officer Fernandez kept his humility while being interviewed after the video’s popularity.

“My job is to build a relationship with the community, and that’s pretty much what I was doing,” he told CNN. But he also admitted to having a soft spot for the particular little dancer, saying “she not only reminded me of my sister, who was born with brain damage and is in a wheelchair, but she also reminded me of my 9-year-old daughter. It really touched my heart to see her so happy.”

The two did not know they were being recorded until the end of their dance together. They exchanged plastic flowers and a hug before parting ways.

Kudos to these Texas officers for being wonderful examples of community policing kindness!