HEAVY-HANDED POLICE OF THE WEEK: TACKLING A SWAN
by Hazed
Police from Lincolnshire, England, are reportedly guilty of a massive over-reaction in the way they dealt with a wandering swan. Three police officers, a patrol car and a riot van were deployed after the stray bird was reported ambling about in the vicinity of Lincoln University’s student accommodation.
The incident was reported by a student at the university, Matthew Knott. He says he saw a police car pull up in the road where the swan was waddling about. “Two female PCSOs got out and sort of stared at the swan,” he said. Shortly thereafter, a police riot van arrived on the scene. “A male officer got out and started trying to shoo the swan to the open back of the van, which was never going to work.
“Eventually after about half-an-hour they got a sheet thing from the back of the van and caught it in that.
“It seemed like a bit of an over-reaction, I have no idea how the police ended up being involved.”
This isn’t the first time this particular police force has been accused of a massive over-reaction to a wildlife. A month ago, they used a police marksmen to shoot a cow that had escaped from a field near a school.
There’s pictures of both incidents at the source link below.
Clearly these officers must have quite a quiet life, and view these animal incidents as a welcome distraction from the boredom of their day-to-day routine.
Source: http://swns.com/news/cops-patrol-car-riot-van-race-quiet-street-arrest-swan-34722/
Bonus link: here’s a clip from one of my favorite comedy films, Hot Fuzz, in which a policeman has to deal with a swan: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koU01Ah_MrY
