RSS
News


Home Page > News > Police use ice cream music to embarrass teen rioters in Belfast

Blogs


comment on article 57 Comments
print this article Print
email this articleE-mail

Police use ice cream music to embarrass teen rioters in Belfast

By
DARA KELLY,
IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Published Friday, May 28, 2010, 9:19 AM
Updated Tuesday, June 8, 2010, 3:06 PM

 

Bookmark and Share

The PSNI used ice cream music to embarrass teen rioters in Belfast

Nursery rhymes set to music are deeply uncool. Just ask the bottle-throwing teenagers on the Twinbrook estate on outskirts of west Belfast. Ice cream music was played to them as they misbehaved and it stopped them.

In an action that was cleverly psychological, the nursery tunes were blasted through the loudspeakers of a Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) armored Land Rover after the patrol came under attack from about 15 teenagers last weekend.

The police have said no further action was taken. However it's understood that senior officers have taken a dim view of the successful tactic.

'The crew passed a group of around 15 youths who threw bottles at their Land Rover police vehicle,' a PSNI spokesman told the Belfast Telegraph.

'An officer used the vehicle's loudspeaker system to play music to the youths in an effort to use humor to defuse the situation. The youths stopped throwing the bottles. However police accept that this was not an appropriate action. The officer has been spoken to by a senior officer in order to establish the circumstances of the incident.'

Among those who did not see the funny side was Sinn Fein councilor Angela Nelson. “It was a very immature way for police to deal with a very serious problem,” she said. We have serious issues with on-street drinking and the anti-social behavior that results from that on-street drinking. I would have expected the PSNI to have a more mature outlook and not to come up and play ice cream tunes.”

Nelson dismissed the PSNI’s statement which said the music had defused a tense situation.

'That is a very good excuse when they have been caught out. It’s waffle. Where in the world does a police service say that their way of dealing with anti-social behavior is through humor?'

The answer to Nelson's question is Los Angeles. The Drew Street gang was for years one of the most dangerous street gangs in northeast L.A. Hooded gang members lurked behind parked cars and on apartment balconies. At night, tires squealed and gunshots echoed while neighbors huddled in their homes.

In response to the nightly terror the City renamed the streets where the gang congregated Gay Street and Pansy Square. Overnight, after the name change, the gang no longer congregated there and crime decreased.

Perhaps there's more to this humorous and psychological approach than may initially meet the eye.
 

print this article Print
email this articleE-mail


Most recent of 57 comments - See all comments

It may take several minutes for your comment to appear.
Report abuse
Posted by helmet365 on Jul 31, 2011, 06:30 PM EDT
Quiet gentle music was used some years ago in the Hobart Australia mall or city square where lots of spirited youths gathered. It had a calming effect on their behavoir.
Report abuse
Posted by lynchciaran on Apr 20, 2011, 06:09 AM EDT
it works, its cheap and its pretty funny. I can see the problem with it. I bet you would a great reaction with so many songs example Y.M.C.A. On another note Nelson your a first grade clown
Report abuse
Posted by aloistmartin on Apr 19, 2011, 08:13 PM EDT
Perhaps a Large Billboard of Kate and Willie ....
Report abuse
Posted by beloverelf on Apr 19, 2011, 05:12 PM EDT
Whatever works.
Report abuse
Posted by LouGuyt on Apr 19, 2011, 12:28 PM EDT
Obviously, Angela Nelson has NO humor! Also, it worked, didn't it???
Report abuse
Posted by badolan on Apr 19, 2011, 10:37 AM EDT
I believe that this was a very smart strategy. It worked, nobody was hurt. Perhaps that was not the intention but what a useful tactic.
Report abuse
Posted by 1irishgirl on Jan 02, 2011, 11:14 PM EST
As long as the sitch was difused and no one got hurt and the kids involved wud prob think twice about doin it again.. whats the prob? Some people are too uptight for no good reason!!! Its Ireland for Gods sake!!! We were reared on Humour!!! Stupid bloody woman!! Know your area and your people b4 goin on record as saying something so monumentally stupid!!!
Report abuse
Posted by AWard04 on Dec 26, 2010, 03:47 PM EST
By doing this, they took the power away from the kids. Perfect move, in my opinion. Any other response would have escalated the situation and resulted in injuries. No one was hurt, maybe their pride...but that doesn't require a hospital trip.
Report abuse
Posted by JeffGallagher on Dec 19, 2010, 04:05 PM EST
I suppose Nelon think the police should have gotten out of their vehicles, lined up in riot formation and shot the teenagers with rubber bullets and tear gas. It's just that kind of rote thinking that maintains the fearful image of the police state of Ireland when it is obvious that this officer went out on a limb to defuse a potentially deadly situation. The Irish have outlawed guns. Maybe they should outlaw ice cream trucks.
Report abuse
Posted by Towngate on Dec 19, 2010, 03:49 PM EST
When the Dublin Metropolitan Police in 1916 heard that a poet and his pals had taken up 'armed positions'and were pretending to have captured the City, they should have gone out and clipped their ears and kicked their arses and sent them crying home to their Mammy's wailing that the English won't let them fight for the country,it might not be in the pathetic state it is in today!
Report abuse
Posted by shdwolf1 on Dec 19, 2010, 02:01 PM EST
7-11 convenience stores, here in the US, were having problems with youth troublemakers congregating outside the stores causing problems. When they started playing classical music, the kids found other places to congregate...I guess if that'd happened in Ireland, officials woulda said it was childish and not the civilized way to deal with the problem...I know, arm the clerks and have them shoot anyone standing around...so stupid...
Report abuse
Posted by shdwolf1 on Dec 19, 2010, 01:58 PM EST
I guess it's not just american public officials who are incompetent. Why don't they listen to the public they're supposed to serve? If playing offbeat music defuses a situation, what's the problem? Would the officials rather the cops got out and waded in with automatic weapons and batons? If it works, for crying out loud, don't fix it!
Report abuse
Posted by ancientscribber on Dec 18, 2010, 01:00 PM EST
It is obvious that some sad-short-sighted-police-officials and perverted-political-prima-donnas would rather have bloodshed than good innovative ideas used to the same effect in keeping the peace. I applaud the officer with the music. Give us his name and address and we will show our appreciation for his imagination and humanity.
Report abuse
Posted by killowen on Dec 17, 2010, 05:14 PM EST
Down the toilet is the state of that island. The International Monetary Fund has warned that the Government may have to introduce further budget measures if it is to meet its target of reducing the deficit to 3% of gross domestic product by 2015 He also said that the IMF agreed with the view of Finance Minister Brian Lenihan that there was no way a country whose banks were so dependent on international investors could unilaterally renege on senior bondholders, as the systemic impact of doing so would be too great. The IMF says the threat to other euro zone countries from Ireland's problems is significant, as markets believe other countries face similar vulnerabilities.
Report abuse
Posted by lakeisle on Dec 17, 2010, 09:31 AM EST
I agree with everyone else! Hopefully the Police authority who told off the officer for using his good intelligence sees what all the good citizens below are thinking.
Report abuse
Posted by CarolineRyan on Sep 09, 2010, 09:58 AM EDT
I think the officer's approach was excellent. Why on earth isn't the PSNI using more unusual, creative tactics to get young people to stop destructive behavior? The Troubles proved that beating people with batons and shooting rubber bullets at them doesn't solve Anything, and constituted abuse. Why would this officer be reprimanded for such clever thinking? And why on earth would a Sinn Fein councillor object to that sort of nonviolent method of dispersal? - Caroline Oceana Ryan, author - AN OLD CASTLE STANDING ON A FORD: One Yank's Life in an Almost Peaceful Belfast
Report abuse
Posted by ladygirl on Sep 08, 2010, 09:18 PM EDT
Hey, if it stopped them, and there was no use of force then WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?!!? Sinn Fein councilor Angela Nelson. “It was a very immature way for police to deal with a very serious problem." I Think the behavior of the youths was very immature. The music got results with no force - it's all good.
Report abuse
Posted by mkjudge on Aug 15, 2010, 05:23 PM EDT
totally ingenious :)
Report abuse
Posted by peterson on Aug 11, 2010, 07:50 PM EDT
It worked didn't it ?? Sometimes protocol is not the best way !!
Report abuse
Posted by irishelvis on Aug 08, 2010, 11:40 AM EDT
i got bim bam banana pops, dixie cups, all flavors an push ups too---im ya ice cream man stop me when im passing by...they say all a my flavors are guaranteed ta satisfy......
Report abuse
Posted by CityGirl1 on Aug 01, 2010, 09:28 AM EDT
Good for them! They deserve a lot of credit for thinking of that move! It worked and that's all that should matter to their superiors! Enough said!
Report abuse
Posted by Mayosligo on Aug 01, 2010, 09:19 AM EDT
I applaud the police's humerous and nonviolent handling of this situation. Good for them!
Report abuse
Posted by irishger on Jul 31, 2010, 08:42 AM EDT
Hilarious but it did the trick! Maybe the Gardai should try it out here in the Republic too. Great idea and love the way the LA cops did it and had the streets renamed - Dublin City Council take note!!!
Report abuse
Posted by hollabackgurl on Jul 22, 2010, 11:23 AM EDT
The next time they have a riot the cops should play Rick Astley.
Report abuse
Posted by RthrBHistCorr on Jul 21, 2010, 10:16 AM EDT
Why are these cops being taken to task? They diffused the situation and no one was hurt. I guess their superiors are still longing for the days of tear gas and plastic bullets.
Report abuse
Posted by feliciamaisey on Jul 21, 2010, 08:47 AM EDT
I think it was brilliant on the part of the police officers--no physical altercation, no-one was subjected to further throwing of dangerous materials and everyone went home no worse for the wear. The upper crusties need to grow up and get a sense of humor; if they did violent outbreaks might be relieved.
Report abuse
Posted by krisdaly on Jul 14, 2010, 08:46 PM EDT
WE NOW REFER TO THESE HOOLIGANS AS THE "LOLLY-POP-KIDS"!!!!!!!!
Report abuse
Posted by krisdaly on Jul 14, 2010, 08:44 PM EDT
THESE "HOOLIGANS" SHOULD BE REFERRED TO AS THE "LOLLY-POP-KIDS"!!!!!!!!! .....and the young shall be their oppressors!!!!!!!
Report abuse
Posted by general1969 on Jul 14, 2010, 11:06 AM EDT
Whatever works...as long as it is not illegal or immoral! After giving out traffic tickets I used to play the Queen tune, ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST! The younger drivers did not want to get a ticket from me, as it was embarassing for them. Of course, my chief chided me for that and I had to curb my on duty humor!
Report abuse
Posted by Katybeth on Jul 07, 2010, 11:35 AM EDT
It WORKED!!! These officers thought outside the box and produced non violent results. Their superiors should "Grow Up!"


Click to learn more from DiscoverIreland.com.
IrishCentral Mobile QR code




remember me on this computer
forget your password?