There's a fine line between bad taste and very funny and when you're in a position of trust within the community it only gets finer.
So when police officers enter a sand sculpture competition and decide to create a naked female murder victim with big boobs, it probably falls on the bad taste side of that line.
The local police force in Truro, Cornwall, won first prize for their creation but received a huge backlash when the sand sculpture was branded 'poor taste' and 'sexual stereotyping'.
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Created at Perranporth for a local Beach Games, the officers used seaweed for hair and stuck a beach spade in her back acting as the knife.
Artistically speaking it's actually pretty good but that didn't mean officers weren't forced to apologise to those who were offended by the sculpture.
Local councillor Hanna Toms said: "It missed the mark for me. I think it is in poor taste. Some people would have seen it and it may have reminded them of past experiences. This is a coastal community and people will have lost loved ones in the sea."
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They did receive some support from small sections of the community calling it 'harmless fun' while others said the police 'are allowed a sense of humour'.
A spokesman for Devon and Cornwall Police cleared up the matter by saying: "A local police team from Truro joined other emergency services in taking part in the beach games which were a fun event for the local community.
"The sand sculpture competition was entered in good faith and no staff have meant to cause any offence.
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"The event was a great success for all those involved, and if any offence has been cause by the nature of the sculpture, this was never intended and we apologise for that."
It probably is a slight overreaction from the public but when you are in public office, you do have to be a bit more careful with this sort of stuff. A storm in a teacup.
Words by George Pavlou
Images via SWNS
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