Two police officers are caught on camera messing around on a children’s slide in a playground while on duty rather than catching criminals.
One officer was seen filming their colleague playing on the slide with their patrol vehicle parked nearby with its door open.
The playground incident took place near the Andover estate in Holloway, north London, at the weekend, which is an area rife with knife crime.
The footage was recorded by a single mother, 24, who asked not to be identified.
She told MailOnline that she witnessed the officers on the slide, monkey bars and swings from the balcony of her flat.
A police officer is seen using what appears to be a mobile phone to record their colleague playing on the children’s slide near the Andover estate in Holloway, north London
The footage of the two officers larking about in the playground – which was filmed at the weekend – was taken in Holloway, north London, which is an area plagued by knife crime
The mum the officers appeared to briefly look round the play area – and then to her amazement began to take their turns on the play equipment meant for toddlers.
She claimed the officers were filming each other larking around. ‘The police were in the park for 10-15 mins,’ she said. ‘My daughter called me at first and said, mummy there’s police outside. I noticed a police van and then noticed the police in the park, at first they seemed as if they were looking for something.
‘After a while I noticed them recording each other playing on the swings and on the slide. They even did the monkey bars. There were five or six police officers in the park.
‘That was when I decided to record them as I could not believe what was happening. These are people that are supposed to be protecting our community.
‘At first I found it funny but I soon came to learn there had been a stabbing nearby not too long after I filmed them.’
The short video clearly shows one officer wearing a stab vest on the slide while another appears to be filming him with his phone. It is not known why the police were called to the playground and what incident they had been responding to.
The short video does not show the other officers on the swings or monkey bars and it is not known how long the officers were at the playground.
The North London area has seen several stabbings in recent weeks. At the weekend a 20 year old man was stabbed to death in Finsbury Park – less than two miles from the playground in Holloway.
The stabbing was close to the home of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn It is not the first time police have been filmed messing around while in duty.
The Met was severely criticised in March when after posting a ‘selfie’ of beat officers at a murder scene in Stratford, east London, in March – just hours after a young man was killed.
Salisbury Police was blasted in the same month when two more officers took a grinning selfie in front an overturned car on a snowy motorway.
A mother only found out her daughter had flipped her car on a treacherous road after police tweeted the photo in front of the crash site.
Meanwhile police in Humberside came in for criticism after 18 officers were photographed riding the dodgems at a funfair while others looked on last October.
One of the riders was Chief Superintendent Darren Downs, who posted a picture on Twitter and described having a ‘fantastic afternoon at the fair’.
A witness who recorded the footage told MailOnline that she witnessed the officers playing on the slide, using the swings and climbing the monkey bars that are meant for toddlers
Another senior officer, Inspector Scott Snowden, also posted a series of pictures on social media and wrote: ‘Cops having a bit of well earned fun with people at the fair!’.
Angry local residents said the police should have been out on patrol and not enjoying the rides at Hull Fair last October.
A Met Police spokesman said: ‘We know that Londoners want to see police officers patrolling their neighbourhoods, and the Met is committed to doing just that.
‘Police officers need to be approachable and visible in all areas of London. Having seen the short video clip – but without further details of the circumstances or for how long officers had been in the playground – we can’t comment further.’