A video of a Boston police officer shooting out of a children's slide at Boston's City Hall Plaza has gone viral.
In the clip, which can be seen above, loud banging noises are followed by the uniformed officer violently flying out of the slide. He appeared out the end of the slide feet first on his stomach. At one point he appeared to bang his head against the side of the slide before he hit the rubber surface, taking a tumble as his handcuffs and various other items fell to the ground. "Oh fuck," he said as he attempted to stand up while onlookers laughed and asked why the slide was so dangerously fast.
Per the Boston Globe, the officer sustained injuries during the incident. "He was hurt and used his own personal medical insurance to be treated,” said Sergeant Detective John Boyle. “He lost no time and has returned to work.” Boyle added that he's currently unaware if the incident is being investigated. It should be noted that the playground indicates the slide is only intended for use by children aged between five and 12.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu was asked about the video on Tuesday, Aug. 1 and said she had not seen it yet, as Boston 25 News reported. “We were just there over the weekend for the Puerto Rican festival. Every inch of City Hall Plaza, newly renovated, was in use. It was amazing to see so many kids all over the water features at that playground," said Wu of the recently upgraded play space, which boasts the longest slide in the city. "I don’t know what the circumstances were or what happened. But, I will definitely check in and make sure the officer is ok. If it looks like that there needs to more signage that this is for children or something, we can do that too.”
The unnamed officer isn't the first time an adult found out the slide could be dangerous. As shown in a TikTok uploaded in May, one person previously took a bit of a tumble when they also violently shot out of the children's slide. They weren't a cop, though, so it wasn't as funny.
Boston City Hall's main plaza reopened in November following a two-year renovation project that cost a total of $70 million. The goal of the project was to "move toward a more accessible, sustainable, and comfortable shared space for all Bostonians and visitors."
