Police chiefs sent 550 officers on a positive thinking course encouraging them to “smile” and tell revellers to “have a good time”, the Daily Mail has reported.
Almost a quarter of Leicestershire’s 2,300 officers were sent on a one day ‘confidence training’ workshop costing tens of thousands of pounds.
PCs and sergeants were told to use positive statements when dealing with the public and encouraged to avoid phrases such as ‘We don’t want any trouble’.
Trainers told officers they should smile and tell revellers to have a good time in a bid to not come across as killjoys when dealing with the public.
Frontline officers were told to encourage the public to do what they actually want them to do with positive phrases such as “have a good time please” and “keep the noise down and we will all be happy”.
Dave Grenz, chairman of Leicestershire Police Federation, ridiculed the course. “I do not think officers on the street need to be told to try to increase public confidence because most of them do that anyway,” he said.
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“Most officers try to be as professional as they can doing a difficult job under difficult circumstances. I think these are just management tactics.”
A spokesman for the force said: “This is an unfortunate misunderstanding. It is about officers being clear that we can deliver on what they promise. We provide this kind of training to our officers because we believe it is important to provide the public with an excellent service.”
