It’s a fair cop! Police ride dodgems on duty
A POLICE chief yesterday defended his officers who took time out from patrolling a funfair to ride on bumper cars.
At least 18 officers from Humberside Police rode the dodgems in full uniform at Hull Fair as colleagues looked on and took photos.
One of the riders was Chief Superintendent Darren Downs, who posted a picture on Twitter and described having a “fantastic afternoon at the fair”.
Another senior officer, Inspector Scott Snowden, also posted a series of pictures on social media and wrote: “Cops having a bit of well-earned fun with people at the fair!”
However, one anonymous member of the public wrote on social media that police could never “complain again of a shortage of police”. And Hull resident Peter Sykes, 64, said: “Dodgems is something they should do off duty.”
But Deputy Chief Constable Andy McDyer refused to discipline the officers, claiming they were taking a five-minute break on the last day of the annual fair to have some fun and engage with the organisers.
Some of the 40 officers who policed the eight-day event had worked nine consecutive 10-hour shifts, he said.
He added: “We helped create a family-friendly and safe environment. Half a million people attended the event and there were only four arrests.”