We've officially entered the banter era of policing. Now that police forces are using social media, we're engaging with the day-to-day of the thin blue line more than ever before.
You might say that some of the stunts police pull online are a bit cruel - law enforcement as embarrassment rather than justice, like this 'badvent calendar'. Yet there are some stories you just can't ignore - like this one from police in Merseyside in the northwest of England.
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Yesterday Merseyside Police's road policing unit took to Twitter to say they'd stopped a man in the town of St. Helens for using his mobile phone at the wheel and for failing to wear a seatbelt.
After police read him his rights, the explanation the man gave in his defence is enough to make you shed tears of laughter: "I was just putting a laughing emoji to my girlfriend".
Unsurprisingly, the cops weren't convinced that the message was really urgent enough that he needed to send it while driving down a duel carriageway.
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The force's road policing unit explained what happened next by using emojis of their own, putting the entire police report of the incident in a language the driver would surely understand:
Amazingly, the police force's whole account of what happened makes sense without them needing to use a single word. Aren't emoji amazing? Except when you're driving, obviously.
From the force's creative use of the number '6' and a pound note, we can see that the guy ended up with a fine and six penalty points on his driving licence.
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A Merseyside Police spokesman confirmed the driver of a Ford Fiesta was stopped by police at 1.45pm on Tuesday on St Helens Linkway.
The spokesperson added that the driver had been given six points and a £200 ($284) fine. Do you think his girlfriend sent him an angry emoji once she found out?
Top effort by Merseyside police in this one. This guy won't be texting while at the wheel of his car again, and we all got a laugh in the bargain. Laughing emoji, 100, thumbs up.
Featured Image Credit: PA
