I had a similar experience in Shrewsbury. There was an open day at a local county police headquarters about a month back. i was passing so went and had a look around.
they had a riot gear display and a body dummy set up which children were encouraged to hit with a riot stick. the sight of a small girl whacking the shit out of this thing was disturbing, her mother looked on laughing. at one point during his talk on the riot police the officer running this display actually said " this equipment was used during the G8 summit to deter violent protesters and protect the public". I challenged this then asked him if he felt proud to bring out violent feelings in many of the children present, the officer looked at me bemused, then ignored me. several parents muttered that i was spoiling their children's fun. The whole experience was a sad one with kids getting spoon fed police bullshit. there was even a army recruitment stand at the police station that day, so people could take their violence to the next level!