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Some of Britain’s most elite policing units have come under criticism after organising an Easter egg hunt for staff at a major London hub for counter-terrorism.
Officers employed at the Empress State Building in west London, which includes teams specialising in organised crime and counter-terror, are being offered the activity on Thursday.
Staff from any level of the building – including non-police partner agencies – are free to attend the hunt, but their children are not welcome, MailOnline understands.
The Easter egg hunt has been advertised to staff through posters on display throughout the 31-storey building.
Former Met Police detective Peter Bleksley told MailOnline the decision was ‘ludicrous’ and made for terrible optics for a police force under pressure to increase crime-solving rates.
‘While London burns and people don’t get an investigation into their burglaries, car theft, the theft of tools from their van, harassment on the Tube, having their phones snatched.
‘All those kind of things the Met Police think it appropriate to have an easter egg hunt.
‘While victims of crime are getting emails and phone calls saying your investigation is being closed.
‘I mean it’s ludicrous that they’ve arranged it in the first place. There’s work to be done.
‘There’s millions of unsolved crimes in this city. Victims are being created as we speak, there are tens of thousands of crimes committed in this city every day.
‘No wonder there’s a crime wave’.
Londoners also expressed concern over the move, sarcastically saying it made them feel ‘a whole lot safer’.
One said: ‘Is this a joke? Have we been put into a time machine and returned to April 1st?
A second added: ‘So they hunt Easter Eggs now? That makes me feel a whole lot safer.’
A third said it showed police are ‘pandering to adults and ignoring crime’.
But a Met Police source insisted no officers dealing with routine crimes such as burglaries and thefts will be affected by the move as they are not employed in the building.
They added officers would only be permitted to take part in the hunt during their break time, and not their allotted working hours.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: ‘Every day our officers work round the clock to keep London safe and they will always prioritise urgent jobs and core policing work.’
The Empress State first opened as a counter-terror hub in 2021, and is complete with an operations suite and state-of-the-art forensics laboratory.
A £412 million investment in counter-terror operations in the capital was announced following a series of terror attacks in 2017 that led to the deaths of 36 people and injuries to many more.
This included the acquisition of firm Empress State Holdings Ltd and purchasing of the Empress State Building for £250 million.
The building brings together the Met’s counter-terrorism command and specialist crime and operations under one roof.
Justifying the investment at the time, police chiefs ruled: ‘Counter-terrorism threats are multiplying and the style of attack is changing; Organised Crime grows more complex and demands new responses.
‘There is an urgency to create a single Ct and OC Hub.’
They added: ‘Doing nothing is not an option.’
The hunt at the building is the latest stunt to draw criticism for the Met, following an earlier incident in January in which the force advised residents plagued by drugs gangs to ‘play classical music’.
Amid a scourge of anti-social behaviour and crime thought to be driven by drugs in St John’s Wood, a local resident reported incidents to the Met using photographs.
He reported receiving an email back stating he should film any incidents he witnesses and call 999.
The email added: ‘You can also contact your housing association/the council and ask them to play classical music as this has proven to deter and prevent crimes.’
