Those who grew up in places that are usually blanketed in snow during the winter could attest to how fun it is to play snow games out in the cold – and they sure have tons of fun memories to share about it.

From building snow forts and snow castles to rolling down snowy hills, people simply won’t run out of games to play in the snow. Plus, it definitely makes the holiday season even more fun!

While there is certainly no age limit for people who want to enjoy the fun snow has to offer, fun should be done at the right place, at the right time – at least based on the criticisms some police officers have received online.

In December 2022, staff at St Paul’s Church in west Hackney filmed six men in uniform playing snowball fight near the Stoke Newington police station in the northwest part of the London Borough of Hackney in northeast London in England. These men were identified as officers of the Met Police.

In the said video, which has since made rounds online, the police officers who were on a break can be seen throwing snowballs at each other after they pulled up at a park. At one point, two female officers chasing each other started throwing balls at one another. And it didn’t take long before two male officers joined in the fun. Then a fifth officer followed. A sixth officer was spotted in the same place.

“A police van just pulled up. Six officers got out. Then this happened,” a witness told the Daily Mail.

Although the police officers appeared to be having fun, it did not sit well with some people as they received a complaint soon after.

Be sure to reach the end of this article to see the full video

Those who have seen the video pointed out that the officers should have acted more professionally, criticizing them for playing while wearing their respective uniforms. Even locals called them out for what they did.

Meanwhile, the church which uploaded the video showing the police officers throwing snowballs at each other deleted the video following the controversy that arose from the incident.

“A member of the public reported our video to The Met and has demanded “disciplinary action,” a spokesperson was quoted by the Daily Mail as saying. “We have deleted the tweet.”

According to the Daily Mail, Scotland Yard or “the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London’s 32 boroughs,” has since spoken to the police officers.

But some people thought it was unnecessary to file a report, much less file a complaint against them.

“They were reported to The Met? Good grief, indeed there are some very sad individuals around,” one person said.

“You’d be really surprised, but the police have these wearable communication devices called ‘radios’ so that they can be contacted immediately if they are needed,” another person remarked.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson of the Metropolitan Police clarified with the Daily Mail that the police officers were indeed on a break at the time of the incident.

“The video was filmed near Stoke Newington Police Station and the officers are thought to have been on a break at the time,” the spokesperson said.

Then again, the police officers said they have since reminded their officers about the importance of acting in a professional manner regardless of whether or not they are on a break.

“Officers are allowed downtime but have been reminded of the importance of acting professionally while in uniform,” the spokesperson added.