Police delete Facebook account after viral post
A police posting on Facebook detailing the arrest of a drunken teen received so much attention over the weekend that police chose to deactivate their account.
A police officer, from Växjö in southern Sweden, posted a message on Saturday explaining why and how a 16-year-old was arrested after his disorderly behavior.
However, after the post received almost 50,000 likes and thousands of comments, the police decided to shut down their account altogether.
“There is so much traffic and so many comments that we can’t keep it secure,” said Robert Loeffel of the Kronoberg police to the Aftonbladet newspaper
The Facebook post read:
“A little tip for youths: If you’re 16 years old, drunk, and holding a bottle full of liquor in your hand, it’s not especially clever to yell “F&#K THE POLICE” when we walk past.”
The post then suggested that any young people who find themselves in such a situation should “at least be able to run pretty fast”.
The post continued:
“I don’t know what’s more embarrassing for the boy that did this tonight – that he was caught by a fully equipped 40-year-old policeman or that his mother came to pick him up from the police station at three in the morning.”
While commenters labelled the posting as unprofessional, Loeffel was quick to point out that the youth’s identity was never revealed to the estimated 700,000 to 800,000 people who read the message.
“I don’t think the policeman who wrote this has done anything wrong. He has described an everyday event with a touch of humour, and he hasn’t singled out anyone,” he told the paper.
TT/The Local/og
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A police officer, from Växjö in southern Sweden, posted a message on Saturday explaining why and how a 16-year-old was arrested after his disorderly behavior.
However, after the post received almost 50,000 likes and thousands of comments, the police decided to shut down their account altogether.
“There is so much traffic and so many comments that we can’t keep it secure,” said Robert Loeffel of the Kronoberg police to the Aftonbladet newspaper
The Facebook post read:
“A little tip for youths: If you’re 16 years old, drunk, and holding a bottle full of liquor in your hand, it’s not especially clever to yell “F&#K THE POLICE” when we walk past.”
The post then suggested that any young people who find themselves in such a situation should “at least be able to run pretty fast”.
The post continued:
“I don’t know what’s more embarrassing for the boy that did this tonight – that he was caught by a fully equipped 40-year-old policeman or that his mother came to pick him up from the police station at three in the morning.”
While commenters labelled the posting as unprofessional, Loeffel was quick to point out that the youth’s identity was never revealed to the estimated 700,000 to 800,000 people who read the message.
“I don’t think the policeman who wrote this has done anything wrong. He has described an everyday event with a touch of humour, and he hasn’t singled out anyone,” he told the paper.
TT/The Local/og
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