The Tallahassee Police Department is taking an unconventional approach to its social media presence. As first reported by the Tallahassee Democrat, the department’s Facebook page features crime reports written from the perspective of a fictional police dog.
His name is Copper and his mission is to post comedic police reports on the TPD’s Facebook page. He comments on crimes, injuries and, on occasion, community events and holidays. Below is an excerpt from Copper's June 2 post:
"Friday, officers responded to a rather unusual call. A good citizen used roach spray in his SUV to kill a few pesky roaches. The good citizen then lit a cigarette, but got more than he bargained for. The flame ignited the roach spray vapor, which caused a bit of a boom that blew out all of the windows, the front and rear windshields, bent the door frames and caused all of the airbags to deploy. Thankfully, the good citizen was unharmed, other than some singed hair. There is no word if the roaches made it through the blast, or if they were relocated about 150 yards at a rapid pace."
TPD spokesman Dave Northway says the fictional canine is the department’s way of expanding its social media presence and connecting with the community. Northway wrote Copper’s initial posts but says he didn’t have the knack for it. An anonymous TPD officer handles them now.
“So I found another fellow police officer that works with us that is a natural at it, and he has taken over the posts. He writes them, I edit them to make sure that everything is content-wise going to meet our standards, and then it gets posted,” Northway says.
Northway says Copper has been positively received, but there are no plans to give him a dedicated blog on TPD’s website. He says TPD has seen an increase in Facebook likes, post views and positive page comments since Copper’s introduction in October.
