A short clip shared by @hardhitterzuk has been doing the rounds after it showed what looks like a very young, small-statured police officer (wearing UK-style police kit that resembles Met-style uniform) taking a turn on a fairground boxing/punching machine.
The setting looks like an outdoor event or funfair, with inflatable attractions in the background and a big punch-score cabinet front and centre. In the video, the person filming keeps the tone jokey and slightly baiting, throwing out the line: “You might wanna keep your vest on for extra weight, na?” as the officer lines up the hit — basically implying the protective vest might help boost the score.
On the machine itself, the number shown in the screenshot reads 357, and that seems to be the moment that kicks off the wave of online laughter.
A follow-up shot shows the same officer smiling with their hat/helmet in hand while other officers stand nearby, which gives the whole thing a “banter at an event” vibe — but the comments still went in hard.
Comment reactions: “Police force is finished”
The comment section is a mix of pure clowning and wider “state of policing” takes. One of the top reactions reads “Police force is finished”, while another says “Baby police, and someone else asks, “Who let that middle school kid wear police gear?” There’s also the line “Even she’s mocking him” from one viewer, suggesting the laughter wasn’t just coming from the filmer.
A longer comment goes beyond the joke and turns it into a criticism of policing generally, claiming it’s “a joke” and questioning how people are meant to feel protected, which shows how quickly a silly strength-test clip can get turned into a bigger, more loaded discussion online.
At face value, it’s a classic social-media setup: a uniformed officer + a punch machine + a narrator pushing the joke = instant engagement. The officer’s size is the main “hook” for the comments, and the score provides a neat punchline.
But it’s also worth saying the clip doesn’t prove anything serious about capability. Punching machines are basically fairground toys — technique, timing, and even how the bag swings can change the number massively — and on-duty policing isn’t a strength contest anyway.
The officer also appears relaxed in the follow-up, which makes it feel more like a “caught at a public event” moment than anything genuinely humiliating.
Either way, the post has clearly struck a nerve: some viewers are just laughing at the banter, while others are using it as an excuse to take a swing at the police as a whole.
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