People get upset about the police being armed at a Christmas market, officers hit back with smiles

Mon, 12 Dec, 2016 - 11:20

Police in the UK have taken to social media to hit back at criticism of armed officers posing for pictures with members of the public at a Christmas market.

People tweeted using the #smileforthebbc and posted photos of officers looking happy on duty.

That was in response to the BBC reporting angry comments about Northumbria Police showing images of officers armed with rifles and in armour on duty at a Christmas market in Newcastle city centre.

Since the pictures went on the force's Facebook page on Friday, more than 2,400 people have commented.

If you can't see the Facebook post above, click here.

The force explained the deployment, saying: "Don't be alarmed if you do see our armed officers, they are there purely for reassurance and to make people feel safe."

But people complained saying this demonstrated the "Americanisation" of British policing, and suggested they felt less secure routinely seeing armed police on our streets.

That was picked up by a number of media outlets, including the BBC.

It drew a response from Newcastle Police's Twitter account which posted: "Happy Monday everyone! Hope you had a great weekend and remember ... keep smiling!"

Alongside was a GIF from the film Elf.

Happy Monday everyone! Hope you had a great weekend and remember...keep smiling! 🎄💙👮🏼😄 pic.twitter.com/sDPdgGMvrc
— Newcastle Police (@npnewcastle) December 12, 2016

And officers from across the country joined in, as did officers from the US, and even a police horse.

We had some smiling @NPFSU with us at Newcastle & Sunderland Pride. Keep up the great work and don't lose those smiles #Proud pic.twitter.com/4VNyiWniv8
— Northumbria Police LGBT+ (@NPLGBT) December 12, 2016

'We may never know the good a simple smile can do' 😊 #SmileForTheBBC #keepsmiling pic.twitter.com/lHfgfyeU4q
— PD Rocco PD Major & RPD Chase (@pd_chase) December 11, 2016

But in response to the hashtag campaign, BBC journalist Rob Corp commented: "Cops - you realise it's not the BBC being critical in this story, don't you?"