Police's park drinking Facebook post 'appalling'

A tongue-in-cheek police Facebook post that suggested people should bring "extra strength alcohol" to a park was branded "appalling" by a magistrate, a meeting heard.

The message informed people that a community officer would be at St Peter's Green in Bedford looking out for anti-social behaviour.

But the post was written like an invitation to a circus parade and jokingly invited people to commit offences.

Bedfordshire Police said: "We appreciate that the message was not received by partners as intended, and we have discussed a different way of approaching such issues in future."

An extraordinary meeting of the Bedfordshire Police and Crime Panel was told a magistrate had criticised it for appearing to make light of vulnerable people and alcoholism.

The county's police and crime commissioner said he did not know the specifics of the post, but added "it would appear not to be something that was appropriate".

The post, from the Bedford Community Policing Team, was published in May and began with the words, "Roll up Roll Up it's PC Pete's Pop-Up 'Party-Pooping' Parade at St Peter's Green!"

It went on to say that PC Pete was "bringing his ASB (anti-social behaviour) disrupting engagement to St Peter's Green again this Saturday".

It said people could "bring your extra strength alcohol" and "illegally enjoy your beverage from one of the many benches provided".

The message pointed out there were no toilet facilities at the park, but if anyone was caught defecating "you may find yourself winning an all expenses paid trip to our custody suite".

Towards the end of the post, it said: "All 'banter' aside, consuming alcoholic drinks, urinating and defecating in public spaces, and any other ASB will be dealt with accordingly.

"You have been warned!"

During the meeting this week, Bedford borough councillor Tim Caswell, Liberal Democrat, read out a question to Police and Crime Commissioner John Tizard from someone he described as a "very experienced magistrate".

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said that after quoting the Facebook post, Caswell added: "The magistrate's description of that was 'appalling' because it refers to some very vulnerable people and to alcoholism.

"I just wondered what you thought of that and if you would ask the chief constable if he thinks that's an appropriate way for the force to message the public."

Tizard, Labour, told the meeting that "prima facie, [the post] would appear not to be something that was appropriate".

He said the source of the post would have to be verified but he would pass the complaint on.

Community Policing Supt Hob Hoque said: "We are committed to keeping people updated about the work we are doing to address ongoing problems such as anti-social behaviour.

"We encourage officers to lead our community policing social media channels as they are most in tune with people's concerns.

"While given training and support, these officers are not social media experts but do their best to strike a balance between providing relevant updates which resonate... while remaining sensitive to vulnerabilities or underlying issues."

He added that the force would "continue to work closely" with other services to tackle street drinking and anti-social behaviour.

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