Viral video shows Boston police officer’s bumpy ride on City Hall Plaza slide

When Boston’s City Hall Plaza reopened last fall with a snazzy new playground, the plaza’s long and twisty slide quickly became a go-to for the city’s young and young-at-heart. 

But as some adults have since learned the hard way, the slide can be a bit of a bumpy ride when you’re fully grown. 

In one video shared widely online this week, a clanging sound can be heard inside the slide moments before a uniformed police officer shoots out, sliding on his stomach and landing roughly on the ground.

Boston Police Department spokesperson Sgt. Det. John Boyle said the officer in the video was on duty and hurt himself going down the slide. The officer sought medical care on his own, used his own health insurance for treatment, and lost no time from work, Boyle explained. 

He didn’t know whether there were other officers present at the time, but said the Boston Police Department is not investigating the incident. 

Multiple versions of the video had popped up online as of Tuesday afternoon. One clip on TikTok, which used pejorative slang for police officers, racked up more than 13 million views in a matter of hours.

Former professional hockey player turned NHL commentator Ryan Whitney posted another version of the video on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter. However, he later tweeted that he deleted “what I think is one of the funniest videos of all time. I was begged to take it down. Sad.”

Another X user posted a screen-recording of the clip below Whitney’s tweet, which drew tens of thousands of more views.

This isn’t the first time video of a close encounter with the City Hall Plaza slide has made the rounds on social media. Ahead of the plaza’s grand reopening in November, City Councilor Erin Murphy shared a clip of her sliding down on her stomach and losing a shoe in the process.

“For the record… I started down the slide sitting straight up and facing forward,” Murphy tweeted. “I got whipped around in the tunnel and came out backwards and upside down.” 

Several TikTok users have also shared videos of their own rocky landings. 

“How does a child go down that?” a bewildered slide-goer asks in one TikTok. 

Boston.com has reached out to the city to ask whether officials have received any slide-related complaints or reports of injury. 

Abby Patkin

Staff Writer

Abby Patkin is a general assignment news reporter whose work touches on public transit, crime, health, and everything in between.

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