In Belfast, Northern Ireland, a police Land Rover was assaulted by a hoard of teenagers. The group, comprised of about 15 young people, threw bottles at the vehicle as it passed by.
To calm the rioters, the Police Service of Northern Ireland employed a pretty imaginative tactic. Instead of fighting the group or hauling them all off to jail, the crew of the Land Rover played Ice Cream van music, hoping the song would make the teenagers stop.
And, surprisingly, it worked.
Music has a strong impact on your mood, and the tunes used by Ice Cream vans were the perfect attitude adjuster for these upset teens.
However, not everyone was impressed. Angela Nelson, a counselor for Northern Irish political party Sinn Fein, felt the tactic “was a very immature way for police to deal with a very serious problem.”
The police stand by their actions, though, believing that the music diffused a tense situation. Sometimes, laughter really is the best medicine, even in violent situations.
