UK Police Department Twitter Accounts Offer FREE iPads... With A Catch

from the please-tell-me-someone-fell-for-this dept

Tue, Jan 8th 2013 3:49am — Tim Cushing

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.

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: communications, police departments, social media, uk

24 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

Zakida Paul (profile), 8 Jan 2013 @ 4:02am

Wasn't there something similar in an episode of The Simpsons years back? That must be where the police got the idea from.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Richard (profile), 8 Jan 2013 @ 4:35am

Hmm
Find and act that fits the dictionary definition of burglary but is not illegal - claim 2 free iPads....
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 8 Jan 2013 @ 4:35am

Re: Hmm
I misread it as buggery and got all excitec.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
PaulT (profile), 8 Jan 2013 @ 4:44am

Re:
Dammit! I was going to say the same thing...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
plonker, 8 Jan 2013 @ 4:57am

sorry i should translate for our american cousins:
burglary = burglarization (or burglarizationism perhaps)
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 8 Jan 2013 @ 5:25am

Hey, if some criminals are dumb enough to turn themselves in to collect the reward money (only to find out they aren't eligible for the reward money) then SOMEONE must be dumb enough to take them up on this offer!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Leigh Beadon (profile), 8 Jan 2013 @ 5:50am

Re:
"Can I have my motorboat now?"
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 8 Jan 2013 @ 5:58am

funny but.... bragging about ruining someones life over catching them with drugs.... not so funny.

@SurreyPolice
Surrey Police
Nine drug related arrests this week, one person found with a white powder...and it wasn't snow! #DeckTheCells

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.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 8 Jan 2013 @ 6:12am

Re:
It's not the same, really. People are trying to genuinely change he laws regarding drugs of all kinds. In the meantime, mock away!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 8 Jan 2013 @ 6:49am

Re:
Given how much the british society shells out because of people not appearing in court, I think it is well worth it to give it out while taking the criminal into custody. Sad but true: Bribery of this sort is a cheap way to bring the wankers to justice.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 8 Jan 2013 @ 8:20am

Re: Re:
Mock away... when a man is literally kidnapped over christmas, fined and possibly forced into containment in a prison. All for having a recreational drug in his possession.
Meanwhile in the real world.....Alcohol related crime/injuries/deaths at epidemic levels.

@MostWantedDangerousKidnapperTerrorists

Nine Police officers were kidnapped this week by armed men, for having alcohol.
One officer found with Peach Schnapps...No Sex on the Beach for him #LonelyThisCopmas
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 8 Jan 2013 @ 8:32am

Re: Re:
Question:

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.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
WysiWyg (profile), 8 Jan 2013 @ 9:22am

Wait what now?
Am I the only one that reacted to the second tweet?

"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?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 8 Jan 2013 @ 9:36am

Re: Wait what now?
"You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence."
[ link to this | view in thread ]
The dude, 8 Jan 2013 @ 9:53am

Re:
Oh someone is bitter; because the police took his "medicine" away i presume?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
WysiWyg (profile), 8 Jan 2013 @ 9:55am

Re: Re: Wait what now?
Okay, that's better, but it's still effed up!

How will the average Joe know what will be useful in court!?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Lee Lyons, 8 Jan 2013 @ 10:30am

But it may harm your defence....
In the UK you do have a right to silence, but declining to answer questions and then producing answers at a later date can lead to inferences being drawn. But only in limited circumstances - the average dude will be given what is called a 'special warning' and it is limited in scope to key evidence that must be disclosed to the suspect (and legal advisor). If following these warnings they still fail to account for something then it is at the discretion of the court to assess and if proportionate draw an inference that the suspect cannot be believed in their account.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
The Groove Tiger (profile), 8 Jan 2013 @ 10:58am

What would be hilarious, was if some thief was stupid enough to go to the PD for his free iPad, and some copper was stupid enough to give it to him...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 8 Jan 2013 @ 11:40am

Re: Re: Re:
I understand that. However, if you're idiotic enough to get caught with these drugs, then you should be mocked. Which is my point.

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.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 8 Jan 2013 @ 11:41am

Re: Re: Re: Wait what now?
It's the original version of the Miranda rights. Note that it does not include the ability of the evidence you give to be helpful to your defense.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
hmm (profile), 8 Jan 2013 @ 3:59pm

I committed a burglary (to memory)...GIVE ME MAH IPAD!!!!!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
rwdi, 2 Jun 2013 @ 9:12am

ask please
Okay, that's better, but it's still effed up!

How will the average Joe know what will be useful in court!?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Redcar, 22 Jan 2014 @ 2:00am

Keep it up
Police using any means possible to catch criminals we are all for that. Leicester suffers from a large crime rate like the North East were we are. So any efforts should be appreciated
[ link to this | view in thread ]
River Tees, 22 Jan 2014 @ 2:07am

lol
Did anybody actually turn up and ask for a Ipad???
[ link to this | view in thread ]