UK Police Department Twitter Accounts Offer FREE iPads... With A Catch
from the please-tell-me-someone-fell-for-this dept
Normally, if someone were to offer you a FREE iPad or the like unsolicited via the interweb, you'd either be a) reasonably suspicious or b) consulting various anti-malware forums in hopes of regaining control of your computer/Facebook account/credit history. But what if that offer were to come from a more respectable source -- say, an official police Twitter account? If you answered "b" then you're probably taking stock of your life and wondering if leading a life of crime is really for you.Police in Leicester did exactly that, tweeting out this tantalizing offer to the public a few days ago.
Not a scam: If you've committed a burglary in the #Leicester area within the last week - come to our #police station & claim a FREE iPad.
— Leicester Police (@CityCentreLPU) January 6, 2013
"Not a scam: If you've committed a burglary in the #Leicester area within the last week - come to our #police station & claim a FREE iPad."While it's doubtful this police department snagged any criminals with this playful tweet (although I'm holding out hope that it will), it did manage to catch that attention of another police department, who accused the Leicester police of tweet theft.
.@citycentrelpu – we need to talk to you about a tweet theft earlier today, “You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your....
— Solihull Police (@SolihullPolice) January 6, 2013
.@CityCentreLPU – we need to talk to you about a tweet theft earlier today, “You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your....The Solihull Police had apparently made the same offer to gullible criminals earlier that day, but had only received 18 retweets as compared to the 4,000 received by Leicester's purloined tweet. An apology was extended and both police departments went back to work, providing a mixture of the useful and the comical, with Solihull PD helping reunite lost cannabis with its owner and the Leicester Police performing field sobriety tests via Twitter.
I know we tend to focus on the negative side of the law enforcement community so it's nice to see little exchanges like this coming from official channels. It goes a long way towards humanizing these two departments, keeping these accounts from turning into faceless department bullhorns dispensing nothing but blotter activity and talking points.
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Filed Under: communications, police departments, social media, uk
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Hmm
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sorry i should translate for our american cousins:
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Ruin someones life by arresting, charging them, more so than if they took coke occasionally.
Brag and joke about scumbags who rob and commit violent crimes.... ok
Bragging about ruining a persons life because the drug they had was not government sanctioned like alcohol is.... scummy as fuck.
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Meanwhile in the real world.....Alcohol related crime/injuries/deaths at epidemic levels.
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Would you rather be a victim of violent crime.... let's say a sucker punch from a drunk on a night out.
OR
Get arrested for having an E in your possession, held in a cell until the paperwork and court date is set.
In certain instances the police are forced by law, to be worse than scumbags who violently attack you.
POLICE RUIN PEOPLES LIVES. (lots of times I am grateful as fuck)
At the very least they should have a valid reason to do so.
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In the meantime, I'm going to be busy campaigning to change the laws so that, for the most part, recreational drugs are made legal.
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Wait what now?
"You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your...."
Now I know it's the UK, and they do things differently there, but is that for real? That you staying silent can be construed as incriminating in itself?
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How will the average Joe know what will be useful in court!?
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But it may harm your defence....
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ask please
How will the average Joe know what will be useful in court!?
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Keep it up
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lol
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