A police officer has been accused of 'inappropriate' use of social media after suggesting that a neighbourhood looked like it had been hit by North Korean rocket strikes.
In a message posted on the Facebook page for Cadishead and Irlam in Greater Manchester he began by advising anyone who found a missile in their garden not to contact police but instead to send it back to Pyongyang.
The unnamed officer then added: 'I was driving into work today and thought it had happened already.
Controversial: Officers in Greater Manchester have been given a slap on the wrist after posting this message
'Then I remembered I was driving through Eccles' – a reference to a deprived part of Salford.
Despite saying the comment had been an in-joke with a PCSO colleague, the officer's force has now ruled that it was 'inappropriate'.
More...
'You're a normal person. I can see no reason why you shouldn't be disqualified': Sarah Harding told to pay for a driver as she's banned for driving while using her phone
School caretaker earns £50,000 a year which is DOUBLE the pay of a newly qualified teacher
The officer also made a pointed reference to cost-cutting measures, describing the bus as his 'dedicated police transport' and went on to describe an encounter with a local.
He wrote: 'As we got off, a person approached and said, 'Ere yar Dibble. Wherz can us use our rides wivout yooz taxing us and crushin them? We'z gettin proppa vexed'.
Amusing: Senior officers at Greater Manchester Police have warned constables they can take the informal approach too far after incidents
'I was fumbling for my North Korean handy phrasebook, as I thought we had been invaded after all …'
The two Facebook posts had a total of 300 'likes' – with many commenting about how funny and refreshing they found them.
But senior officers at Greater Manchester Police warned constables they can take the informal approach too far, after another incident involving a picture of a reveller posted on Twitter.
Loaded on to the Newton Heath neighbourhood team's account, it showed a man in drag with the caption: 'Don't do drugs'.
Apparently taken by an off-duty officer during a night out in Blackpool and posted with the party-goer’s consent, it featured another shot captioned: ‘Just Say No’.
Superintendent Neil Bhole said the post 'fell below our usual expected standards'.
Greater Manchester Police have been given advice by senior colleagues about light-hearted tweets
Superintendent Stuart Barton in Salford said officers had established a very good relationship with the community via Facebook, but added that 'some of the content of this particular post is not appropriate'.
A recent report by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary revealed 357 incidents of offensive or inappropriate language online which led to officers being advised not to use social media if they had been drinking off-duty.
One Greater Manchester officer posted tweets that included listing the high price of chocolate bars as a 'crime update'.
Police increasingly use social media as a way of connecting with communities and spreading awareness of local issues or major incidents.
In 2010 his force became the first to tweet details of every incident reported to its officers over a 24-hour period.
Officers at Cadishead and Irlam have a more light-hearted approach to posting on Facebook
Despite the telling off, Cadishead and Irlam's Facebook page is popular among residents with more than 4,000 likes
EXTRACTS FROM CADISHEAD AND IRLAM'S FACEBOOK PAGE
March 22 ‘Our computers have crashed, so I can’t update you with what’s happened overnight and this morning.
‘I’m sure that nothing has happened and all the burglars and car criminals have seen the errors of their ways and walked to Swinton cells and handed themselves in.
‘They’ve then let us line them up in the back yard, so we can throw snowballs at them.
‘We can only wish, can’t we.’
April 11 ‘It hasn’t happened yet, but if anyone finds a North Korean missile in their back garden, don’t call us, our property store isn’t big enough.
‘Please put a stamp on it and return to: Kim Jong-Un, c/o Pyongyang.
‘I was driving into work today and thought it had happened already. Then I remembered I was driving through Eccles.
‘(I’m only joking Eccles people - PCSO Mark Hutton made me say it).’
April 12 ‘We had a bit of a panic on, earlier, when we were getting our dedicated Police transport to Irlam (The bus).
‘As we got off, a person approached and said, “Ere yar Dibble. Wherz can us use our rides wivout yooz taxing us and crushin them?. We’z gettin proppa vexed”.
‘I was fumbling for my North Korean handy phrasebook, as I thought we had been invaded after all, when Matt pointed out it was an Irlam Gangsta, aged 13 and three quarters, who had asked, “Constable. Where can we ride our off road motorbikes legally without them being seized?.
'It’s most annoying”.
‘(Please don’t take offence at the above, as it’s only a joke)’
April 13 ‘There was a call to a lady who had become lost whilst walking from Irlam to Cadishead, if that is possible. I maybe a suspicious old so and so, but I suspect that alcoholic beverages had some involvement.
‘Or maybe I could be sexist and say it was a lady, and we all know that ladies struggle with directions...
‘Obviously, a man would walk around for several days before asking for directions...It’s a man thing.’