Here comes The Fuzz... Officers in bear masks
POSING in teddy bear masks in Sainsbury’s, these police support staff are supposed to be on duty.
But the happy pair weren’t the only officers who found time to relax at work – their colleagues were taking part in more than a dozen community tea parties.
Images of staff tucking into cupcakes at supermarkets and community centres were shared on Twitter by Warwickshire Police chiefs.
The photo of the two members of Nuneaton’s safer neighbourhood team wearing the bear masks, had the caption: ‘Police community support officers enjoy a teddy bears picnic on their own in Sainsbury’s.’
Chiefs later insisted that the pair were on duty and not taking part in the tea and cake sessions to mark National Hate Crime Awareness Week.
Officers tweeted the hashtag ‘CakeNotHate’ alongside their images of what a spokesman said had been ‘an opportunity to talk to the public about hate crime in an informal setting’.
Chief Inspector Daf Goddard said: ‘We encourage our officers to use social media to engage with the public. This can sometimes be used for serious issues and it can sometimes be used in a more lighthearted way.
‘We fully support the use of social media as a tool to break down some of the barriers that exist between the police and the public and involve them in day-to-day policing.
‘Building these relationships is central to community policing and a vital tool in helping us to protect our communities from harm.’
The force has lost 138 officers to budget cuts since 2010.