A British police force under fire for showing off videos of its officers dancing to the Macarena at a Pride event in Lincoln, England, is unrepentant, insisting that policing “is not just about enforcement and patrol”.
Lincoln Police uploaded footage of four officers dancing in a line at Lincoln Pride on August 21st to Twitter, along with some jaunty text, a happy emoji, and the transgender and gay pride flags.
Predictably, given the poor reception such virtue-signalling stunts at a time when swathes of crimes are going unsolved have had on many previous occasions, they received a strong backlash from social media users.
“Our taxes at work,” quipped Peter Hitchens — the Christian, socially conservative brother of the late liberal atheist Christopher Hitchens, and a prominent British columnist and reporter in his own right — sharing the video with over 180,000 followers.
To put things in context, Hitchens also shared a local media report highlighting the fact that crime in Lincolnshire is up by 10 per cent — with even sharper rises in certain areas of particular concern to the public, including robberies, which are up by 28 per cent, and sexual offences, which are up by 34 per cent.
Lincolnshire Police is adamant that officers dancing the Macarena is a good use of their time, however, with the force posting a lengthy apologia from Chief Constable Chris Haward on its main, verified Twitter account.
“Lincoln Pride is a celebration of inclusivity and representation within the LGBTQ+ community and, as Lincolnshire Police, we are there to support them and build confidence in our service,” Haward insisted.
“I expect my officers and staff to engage with people attending Pride; to chat, laugh, join in, and even dance, where it is appropriate to do so and does not detract from their duties,” he went on — although how four uniformed officers might police a large event while simultaneously standing in a line jiving to ’90s dance song was not explained.
“Policing is not just about enforcement and patrol but about engagement, understanding and being part of the community,” he further declared.
To Lincolnshire Police’s credit, it did not bite back at a critical public as fiercely as some forces have in the past — such as in 2018, when West Yorkshire Police responded to Facebook users mocking them for boasting about an extremely small drugs bust by threatening that “being insulting, abusive or offensive can and will result in a prosecution under the Malicious Communications Act 1988.”