Auckland officers have been caught on camera playing on a playground after what police said was a "challenging" day at the office.
A member of the public filmed the officers bouncing up and down on a seesaw. The video, originally posted on TikTok and subsequently shared on Reddit, was captioned, "If you wonder why NZ police doesn't come when you call them".
The public safety team (PST) officers concerned had attended a "confronting family harm incident" last week but the video was taken after the matter was dealt with, relieving Counties Manukau South Area Commander Inspector Matt Hoyes said.
Insp Hoyes confirmed he was aware of the video and said footage posted on social media often didn't "capture the full context behind something on camera".
"Last week, some of our PST staff attended a confronting family harm incident prior to this video being taken.
"The incident was dealt with after an extended period of time and the staff returned to the station.
"They came across some children in a playground who wanted to engage with them."
Many Reddit users defended the officers - one pointing out they were "humans being humans".
"Best clip I've seen in a while, good to see them having a laugh in amongst all the bad they probably have to deal with on the daily," another said.
"Nothing wrong with that," wrote another. "In fact, they should be doing this regularly to discourage riffraffs in the playground and in the community."
At the time the footage was taken, "no priority incidents" were taking place so the officers "took the chance to engage" with the children, Insp Hoyes said.
"Like any other employee, our staff are entitled to breaks and this was an opportunity for them to reset after attending a challenging incident."
