In an apparent effort to humanize itself to meme-savvy members of the community, the police department of Dixon, IL, tweeted a meme Wednesday night that seemed to imply it might seek to unlawfully arrest people who are mean to cops.
The message read:
Shockingly enough, the tweet wasn’t too well-received, and it was deleted by Thursday morning. Multiple users also surfaced reporting from 2014 about the department settling an excessive force lawsuit brought by a resident for $110,000.
Requests for comment from the department were not immediately returned on Thursday morning, but we’ll update this post if and when we get a response.
Bizarrely enough, the Alexandria, VA police also decided to piggyback on the tweet, lest they be accused of not engaging with the top content of the day.
A quick scroll through the Dixon Police Department’s verified account reveals a pathologically Hey Fellow Kids-type interest in seizing on the memes of the day, or at least the memes of the last few years. (The account’s bio also states, in emojis, that cops love donuts.)
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: police don’t get to use memes. It absolutely never goes well.