14 DAY TRIAL // Britain's Sun newspaper posted an article yesterday about two on-duty coppers who were doing something rather inappropriate when all they had to do ( as their job description also requires) was to guard a wall in Chingford, East London, a wall thought to be in danger of falling over.
According to the paper, they were sitting in their car playing on PSP. They also managed to find out (how ever they did it is a mystery) that the actual game they were playing was a football game. They were reported by a builder who accidentally spotted them during their "demanding" activity, and took the liberty of photographing them.
As funny as it sounds, some may think it wasn't such a big deal that the two officers were playing on the handheld during their watch but it is. Police officers are assigned to take part activities that require the presence of their uniforms and by "presence" I mean actually making a difference in doing what ever they have to do. I'm going to sound like a 70-year-old saying this but they also have to live up to the vow they took when they joined the force.
The Metropolitan Police is dealing with the two officers and totally agrees with the complaint: "The use of the games console was inappropriate and unprofessional. Senior officers are dealing with the matter."
The thing is you can't really blame them either, they had to guard some wall for who knows how much time and it can get very boring, even with a partner who complains about his fat wife or the bad food or whatever. Still, if anyone was to get hurt because of the cops' lack of attention, this would have been a different story all together.