Ice-cream van music used to calm Belfast riot

This sounded to me like a nice use of initiative, not least because it appears to have been a non-violent solution which would change the mood of a crowd: "'An officer used the vehicle's tannoy system to play music to the youths in an effort to use humour to defuse the situation. The youths stopped throwing the bottles." sounds brilliant to me and the kind of action that we could do with training officers in! But not everyone thinks so: "However, police accept that this was not an appropriate action."
Why not? Readers of this blog are invited to explore further or share any further info. However, the reason for the reprimand don't appear to be good to me: a Sinn Fein official is reported to have commented: ""The PSNI are put on the streets to do a serious job and that is to keep order on the streets and face down antisocial elements. This is like a sick joke."
Iow: only violent or aggressive or 'serious' methods are allowed. Things that might defuse the situation are not serious. I think the official should remember who picks up the bill; community policing with the grain of the culture seems like a good idea to me. Since when did aggression and facing down do anything but ramp up the temperature and breed resentment and very likely add to the bill through continued vandalism and hospital bills?
The officer deserves a medal and commendation for quick strategic thinking.
Of course the main downside is that they probably can't repeat it. It's the creativity of it that worked.
WWJD?

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