Dickson’s dancing police officer remembered, ‘touched a lot of lives’
@watusi_wrangler This cop knows how to make everyone smile every morning 😂😂😂 #36SecondsOfLightWork #lifeisgooddance #tennessee #backtheblue #dancingcop ♬ Neon Moon - DJ Noiz
Officer Zack McCay’s affected many people in his five years with the Dickson Police Department.
Evidence of McCay's lasting impression on the Dickson community was on display Thursday night as multiple first-responder vehicles lined Highway 46 in the city, honoring McCay’s return “home” with a police escort.
McCay, 45, known by many from a viral video as the “dancing cop,” died this week from medical issues after four months in the hospital. His body was escorted back from St. Thomas West in Nashville.
“Some people say Zack’s smile was contagious. And, that is a true statement,” said Dickson Police Chief Jeff Lewis.
“Once he got sick and things went south with him, he just couldn’t bounce back,” Lewis added. “We went and picked him up last night and brought him back home.”
McCay, a Colorado native, has a wife and daughter. He started in 2017 on the patrol division. Two years later, McCay — who was also active duty in the Army as a drill instructor — was promoted to the traffic division, riding a police motorcycle and working morning traffic control at Dickson County High School.
Immediately, McCay’s dance moves while directing student drivers left a lasting impression. A Dickson woman captured his moves on TikTok and the video was seen 3.4 million times.
“Anywhere and whatever he did, he gave it a thousand percent,” Lewis said. “He enjoyed the community. He cared about the community. He cared about the people here and you could tell that by the way he performed his duties.”
Lewis said once the dancing video went viral, an officer told him about it. So, the chief had to see the moves first hand.
“I went and watched him one day and it was hilarious,” Lewis said. “He made a lot of kids’ day when they would pull into the high school and see him out there enjoying himself and his job.”
Lewis noted that students would call into the department to check on McCay.
“He touched a lot of lives at the high school,” Lewis said. “He enjoyed being a police officer. I think he mostly enjoyed helping people.”
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Dickson’s dancing police officer remembered, ‘touched a lot of lives’
