Last year we commented on news that Devon and Cornwall police were handing out stickers featuring themselves in the style of those early 90s football sticker albums as a promotional gimmick to try to improve the respect young people had for them. Today, it emerges that Hampshire Police have gone one step further - and a few years more old school - and produced their very own set of top trumps.
It's safe to say the response has been...mixed. According to a police spokesman a few officers had understandable reservations:
There were a couple of officers who had reservations about the whole thing. They thought "I'm a police officer, I'm here to solve crime, why am I handing out game cards?".
A good point - in an age where many young people lack any respect for the police, does this really give them the necessary boost to their gravitas? Never fear, argues the spokesman:
We had to convince them that we weren't messing about and told them that the children will love the cards and more people will talk to you as a result.
PCSO Phil Farrell either has a very optimistic character, a genius for spinning bad things into good or generous tendency to think the best of people:
I'm now a hero so that's good. I now get recognised all the time by kids on the street...
So far so good...
...they all call me Fatboy Farrell.
Ah. Was that exactly what they meant when they said "build bridges with young people"?