On-Duty South Australian Cop Goes Viral For Schooling Basketballers

A South Australian police officer has gone viral after video emerged of him schooling a group of basketballers.

Police officers in some areas have a bad reputation for being revenue raising, angry, unhelpful members of society who just want to spoil the fun. But this bloke clearly knows how to have a good time.

The footage has been reposted by the South Australian Police media team onto Facebook, where it's 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."

Kent Klakhaeng/South Australia Police

People who have seen the footage seem to be largely supportive of the officer taking a tiny second out of his shift to shoot some hoops.

One person wrote: "This is so good to see what a fine human being this police officer is. The kids would have loved this."

Another added: "Need more videos uploaded like this showing SAPOL interaction with the public. Keep up the good work SAPOL!"

A third said: "Good to see the officer bonding with the community, great work."

Kent Klakhaeng/South Australia Police

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'.

That could be something along the lines of a 'brief, friendly door-to-door visit by uniformed police officers' or, in this case, shooting hoops for a minute with people who were enjoying themselves.

Topics: Viral, News, 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