On August 9th, the Holman Police Department posted on their open Facebook page that “posts made to this page that contain profanity will be deleted. We promote this page as family friendly. Thank you.” It seemed like a reasonable enough request that shouldn’t really have to be made in the first place. However, anyone familiar with public Facebook pages, especially ones centered around Law Enforcement, know that it’s nearly impossible to have a discussion about police without getting trolled with disgusting comments about LEOs. So, when the inevitable happened, and someone posted, “yet police aren’t typically family friendly,” they decided to reply in an epic fashion that taps into the frustration that Law Enforcement around the country are feeling right now.
“Recently we posted a request that comments on our Facebook page not contain profanity as we try to promote our page as “family friendly.”
Our post received a comment “Yet police aren’t typically family friendly.”
While our department usually refrains from online squabbles with posters, that comment hit home and deserves a response.
I ask myself why the Holmen Police Department aren’t considered family friendly, but I realize it’s possibly a general perception of police altogether? Either way…
I can understand why you don’t see us as family friendly when someone in a family calls 911 because of a domestic disturbance and someone goes to jail. Maybe that caller was the child watching their parent beaten for the last time and was terrified for that parent’s life. Maybe that caller was the spouse who was scared if they didn’t call that they wouldn’t wake up in the morning. Maybe an outcome of that call was that children had to be removed out of the house, not because it’s something we enjoy doing, but we felt it was our only option at that point because children cannot protect themselves and we had no other alternative. Every officer I know tries everything they can do to NOT to arrest a parent in front of their children, because no matter how reprehensible that parents’ actions were they still have children who look at them through loving eyes that only an innocent child has.
I suppose we’re not family friendly when we arrest someone and remove their children when they’re cooking meth in their home or dealing drugs out of their home while their children play in the next room. I wonder how family friendly the “guests” are that come into that household to buy the drugs or family focused their parents are when they’re passed out, strung out or paranoid from their drug binges.
The police aren’t family friendly when they have to arrest a parent or other caregiver for abusing a child. At that point it isn’t our job to worry about what the public will think or if the children will hate us because we have to protect the children when those that brought them into this world can’t or aren’t doing their jobs.
We aren’t family friendly when we execute a search warrant on a house where we know someone is possessing child pornography or let’s call it what it really is, children being recorded for gratification while they’re abused, because we need to find out if that suspect is hurting any children in our community.
When we stop someone for speeding or an equipment violation and your children are in the car maybe that “not family friendly” ticket or warning will make you rethink your driving behavior the next time you’re on the road so we don’t see you in a crash with your children in an ambulance or worse.
We try to be compassionate and family friendly as best we can when have to knock on your door to tell you that your loved one has died and try to help you through those first few moments of horrendous grief. It is one of the worst things we have to do as law enforcement officers.
When you call 911 because someone in your family is hurt it is the police who are usually there first trying to calm you and help you. We help call a relative, secure your house or do whatever we can so you can concentrate on your loved one.
If someone is threatening you or your family you call us to protect you and your loved ones. How more family friendly do you expect us to be?
We buy hundreds of pieces of candy for Halloween night handing out to as many kids as we can. In fact we usually have to go hide out once we run out because our community knows our tradition and we are family friendly, well at least on Halloween we are.
Every officer has sacrificed Thanksgivings, Christmases, birthdays and countless other important family events of our own so that we are on duty in case YOU need us to NOT be family friendly on a holiday.
We’ve stopped at daycares for visits, given presentations at schools, given tours of our squads and PD, handed out countless stickers in an effort for children to see that we are family friendly and they should know that we are here to protect them and NOT to fear us. It’s sad your children are probably among the ones that fear us, instead of knowing we’re here to help them. We have people threaten their children in restaurants where we’re eating saying we’ll take them away if they don’t behave. I personally will call you out on that if you say that and I hear it. Don’t make your children afraid of us, who will be at their door when they call 911 for something and need help? Not you, us.
Most of us have children of our own who we kiss goodbye each day to wear a badge and be a part of a profession that has become so dangerous and hated in the last few years that we wonder why we choose to make that sacrifice for your families, especially since we’re NOT family friendly.
We’ve seen things, horrible things that the general public can’t even begin to wrap their minds around…and we see the outcome of situations that are NOT family friendly. So we’re sorry if your perception of us isn’t that we’re not family friendly, but in my eyes we do a job that is very family friendly and our officers’ care about the community that they serve, especially the children and families.
I have a simple fix to your perception of how we’re NOT family friendly….how about people stop doing things that put us, the police, in situations that aren’t family friendly?”
Boom. Mic Drop. Elvis has left the building. Congratulations to Holmen PD for a job well done.
The Holman Police Department has a grand total of 2,315 “likes”. LEO Affairs has 23,000 “likes”. Doesn’t seem “viral” to me.
Bernie Sanders draws more than that in person for one speech.
Congrats on pointing out that a local PD serving a community of 9,000 people doesn’t garner as much excitement as one of the Democrat front runners running for president of the United states. You win the Internet today captain obvious. In other news, more people watched fox news today than public access channel 7 in Drytown, North Dakota.
No one cares how many likes the PD’s facebook page has. The post itself has been viewed over 100,000 times and has been shared over 2,200 times. That’s what makes the post viral.
Go back and take a look at the numbers related to the post referenced in this article.
Did you “like” Homen’s Facebook page?
Is this a competition?
YOU, and idiots like you, are the very core of the problems this Nation has. Bernie is a COMMUNIST, and the fact that even ONE soul shows up to his speeches, assuming the thugs lives matter turds don’t steal his mic while he stands there like a schmuck, says all that needs to be about your comment.
This is a great article and is very, “self explanatory” and if those that still believe that the police are not “family friendly” after reading it…well, there is no hope for them.
Congratulations to the writer.
Amen! This article is right on!
Very well written and straight to the point! Many younger people and narcissistic adults need to read this!
EXCELLENT! Should be mandatory reading for all people who are going to be parents so they remember their actions are what make the police ‘not family friendly’. They should also remember by talking ‘bad’ about the police they are telling their children that in times of trouble they have no where to call for help. Children SHOULD always be taught to think that Police are a ‘safe, friendly place/person to go to.’
After that awesome response from HPD, dipsh#t Joe has that response? Really Joe? Clueless individual!
Thank you for saying what needs to be said. The majority of Americans appreciate their police departments. It’s only those who are outlined in the post that don’t. Thank you to police everywhere for keeping us safe!