Some senior officers at Lincolnshire Police have come out in support of three police officers and a PCSO who dared to show an outbreak of morale by dancing during the Lincoln Pride event (scroll down for video).
The four officers were filmed as they spent 28 seconds of a ten-hour shift dancing (quite well) to the Macarena. The video has been viewed over 1,000,000 times since it was uploaded to Twitter on Saturday.
After spotting the officers, quite a few of the happy-go-lucky spectators decided to join in during the impromptu ‘dance off.’
But it was not long before the legions of so-called ‘professional moaners’ – spurred on by the usual suspects in the mainstream media – started to vent their anger and frustration via the anonymous face of social media.
One social media user wrote: ‘Policing has a lot of problems right now, many of which are caused by successive Governments. However the problems caused by dancing in public at events affiliated with politics & the associated optics of that is entirely self inflicted. I think its bad judgement.’
Another person added: ‘You [Lincolnshire Police] are obviously proud of this video, well the majority of people are not, you are not paid to dance in the street you are paid to protect us all, how did we get to this and who authorised it.’
But Lincolnshire Chief Constable Chris Haward said the officers’ actions did not “detract from their duties”.
He added that he expected Lincolnshire Police officers “to engage with people attending Pride”.
The event was a “celebration of inclusivity and representation within the LGBTQ+ community”, and he added that the force was there to offer support and build confidence.
“I expect my officers and staff…to chat, laugh, join in, and even dance, where it is appropriate to do so and does not detract from their duties,” he said.
The chief constable said policing was about “engagement, understanding and being part of the community”, as well as enforcement.
“Pride is one of the many wonderful community events in the county we are there to police, but also to allow people to look behind the uniform and see who we are,” he said.
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Well done Officers and well done the bosses for defending their officers brilliant actions. These whingers need to go out on patrol in the big cities before they open their mouths to make themselves feel important. This is what Community Policing is all about, gaining the trust of the public and just look at the youngsters enjoying it also.