Three Thames Valley Police officers were reprimanted for using their riot shields to sledge down Boars Hill in Oxford.
The recent heavy snowfalls across the country have brought out a playful side in our local officers, whose snowy prank was uploaded on the internet site YouTube by one of the participants.
However, they were
admonished by Supt. Andrew Murray, who stated that he had “spoken to the officers concerned and reminded them in no uncertain terms that tobogganing on duty, on police equipment and at taxpayers’ expense is a very bad idea should they wish to progress under my command.”
A solidarity group on the social networking site Facebook has been set up by 15-year-old James Keene of Harwell, Didcot, to show support for the police officers.
The group now has well over 200,000 members, and two additional support groups have been created.
Keene explained to Cherwell why he thought the group and incident had attracted so much attention. He stated, “The eye-catching part of the story was the fact it was very funny, but I don’t think it was the only point. It does also show that not all police are the heartless machines they are commonly stereotyped as; they do have a human side to them. All it needed was a bit of snow and a bright idea to bring that out in them!”
When asked about whether he had predicted the rapid growth of support for his campaign, he answered, “I was thinking it would attract 300 or so people by the end of 7 days, but it hasn’t even been 7 days yet and there’s already 200,000 people in it!”
Opinions on the matter appear divided across Oxford’s student body.
Hermione Thompson, a first-year at Magdalen College stated, “It renews my faith in humanity. The bohemian spirit which defined the turn of the last century is still alive today. We need more policemen like that. Whenever I think about that little guy whizzing over the snow, I smile inside. And outside.”
But Jenny Reddish, a first-year Archaeology and Anthropology student, was less amused. She said, “this prank is an example of broken Britain. I think it’s disgusting how these policemen can waste their time frolicking in the snow when there’s crime to deal with on our doorsteps.”
The Thames Valley Police were unavailable for further comment on the support shown by Facebook users.
