Melbourne Cop Called To Break Up Basketball Game During Lockdown But Joins In Instead

A Melbourne police officer has been praised after he allowed a basketball game to continue amid the state's lockdown.

The rules of the city's fourth lockdown stated people are allowed out of their homes for each day for exercise with one other person.

But the sight of two people playing basketball in Carlton Gardens was enough to make one nosy neighbour call Triple Zero to dob them in.

Victoria Police appropriately responded to the potential breach in Covid-19 restrictions, however when the officer arrived and saw the lads were sticking to the rules he let them continue.

But then something epic happened: the police officer joined in on their basketball game.

Video footage of one player going head-to-head with the officer has gone viral on social media and everyone is commending him on being a cool dude.

While he got his backside absolutely handed to him in the one-on-one game, it's heartwarming to see amid a pretty depressing lockdown.

People were thrilled to witness police getting some positive news, with one viewer writing: "I'm happy to hear about things like this. They should be champions of the community and not thugs with badges on a power trip."

Another added: "Word on the street is that he already has gained himself a contract with the Lakers."

A third said: "Victorian cops are awesome. Friendly and highly approachable. Out there simply to serve the people."

It's not the first time Aussie police have been seen getting amongst some basketball action while on-duty.

A South Australian cop absolutely schooled a player during a routine night out and everyone was loving it.

Footage of the epic serve was reposted by the South Australian Police media team on Facebook and it racked up hundreds of likes, shares and comments.

The police force wrote on the social media site: "Patrol log for tonight: 1800 hours - patrol of Northern District. 1830 hours - type up court file for tomorrow.

"1900 hours - sub in for injured player at local basketball facility. 1901 - 1902 hours - dominate with crossover step-back fadeaway jumpshot.

"1903 hours - resume patrol."

People who saw the footage were largely supportive of the officer taking a tiny second out of his shift to shoot some hoops.

While there will no doubt be some naysayers who reckon the officer should have been out 'catching bad guys', studies have shown that police who engage with people end up creating better communities.

One study published last year found that 'a single, positive, nonenforcement-related encounter enhanced the legitimacy of police officers and increased people's willingness to cooperate with the police'.

Featured Image Credit: u/Alby558/Reddit

Topics: Australia

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Trending Journalist at LADbible. His first job was as a newsreader and journalist at the award winning Sydney radio station, Macquarie Radio. He was solely responsible for the content broadcast on multiple stations across Australia when the MH17, Germanwings and AirAsia disasters unfolded. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign.

@stewartperrie