Lincolnshire Police says upsetting critics over Pride dance was 'worth it'

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A spokesman for Lincolnshire Police's rural crime action team (RCAT) has said enduring the criticism for dancing at Lincoln Pride was 'worth it' in order to build trust with the community. A video showing four Lincolnshire Police officers dancing the Macarena at the Pride event on Saturday, August 20 has proven controversial and attracted national attention on social media platforms.

It quickly went viral on both Facebook and Twitter, being watched more than one-and-a-half million times. While many were supportive, others, such as political commentators Peter Hitchens and Julia Hartley-Brewer, criticised the officers for 'flouting' their responsibility.

But members of the force, including Chief Constable Chris Haward, are standing firm, saying community engagement is just as important as policing crime. The RCAT spokesman said: "We don't always get it right, so if four minutes of dancing gets some folks hot under the collar, it's worth it to build trust with those who've had good reason to distrust the police in the past."

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He added that he was "more proud of how we serve Lincolnshire now" than when he joined the force more than 25 years ago. The spokesman took to Twitter at about 6.30pm on Monday, where the bulk of the discourse has been happening, saying that the team had received "lots of comments" regarding the team's support for the dancing officers and that a "minority" were from rural Lincolnshire residents who didn't agree.

"We'd gladly meet with you and talk about why we feel such engagement, under those circumstances, was absolutely spot-on," he wrote. He added that the team knew that not everyone would agree and that not even all Lincolnshire Police officers did, but said that community engagement "helps protect vulnerable people, prevent crime and detect offences," which is the "heart of policing".

The vast majority of negative comments were reportedly from accounts that had no links or interests in the community, had never engaged with Lincolnshire Police before and were "consistently and vociferously negative". "We don't ignore these comments, but they're read in context," the spokesman added.

Sir David Thompson, the chief constable of neighbouring West Midlands police, also stuck up for the four dancing officers and said he was "sick" of police "being used as a culture war football". Sir David, who will retire at the end of the year as the head of England's second largest police force, voiced his support for Chief Constable Haward on Twitter and said the dancing amounted to "seconds in a tour of duty" and was done professionally.

"It's vital we engage at these events," he said.