Officers lark around on Twitter as crime soars

POLICE are tweeting about where they should get their coffee as colleagues battle an explosion of violence on the streets.

Officers faced questions over attempts to be light-hearted on social media despite the serious nature of their work.

In one example, an officer in Muswell Hill, north London, tweeted: ‘Hardest decision while out today is what venue will get the pleasure of my company while I sit and savour their coffee.’

It came amid a wave of violent crime in the capital, which has seen the number of deaths investigated by the Metropolitan Police so far this year rise to more than 50.

Forces were also questioned for spending thousands on maintaining social media accounts. According to figures obtained under freedom of information laws, Lancashire Police spent £20,000 on social media in the year to October 2017. Essex Police, which spent more than £8,000 in the financial year to March 2017, has an account for its dogs.

Former Home Office adviser Dr Karen Bullock, of the University of Surrey, said: ‘Is it really making police accountable to us as the public?’ But police social media adviser Royston Martis said: ‘We would risk no one paying any attention if all policing did was churn out frankly beige messages about shed break-ins.’

John O’Connell of the TaxPayers’ Alliance said: ‘Taxpayers would prefer their cash spent on bobbies on the beat, rather than officers that tweet.’