‘How to report a dead body’ tweet backfires on police force

A POLICE force has apologised after telling people to “think twice” before reporting suspected dead bodies.

In an attempt to highlight time-wasting calls, Cambridgeshire Police released a Twitter video depicting what appears to be a body wrapped in a black bag – but equally could be a carpet – dumped in a ditch.

It claims the purpose of the film was to make people think about what they report to the police, but it was met with a wave of criticism on social media.

Richard Taylor tweeted: “What are @Cambscops saying here? Don’t report bodies to them? Investigate things wrapped up that looked like dumped bodies before calling the police? “Sounds like terrible advice.” Another critic said: “What is that actually supposed to mean? That we should report a suspicious body-shaped bundle as fly-tipping, possibly leaving a murder scene undiscovered for weeks? Or that we’re supposed to investigate, risking contamination of the scene?”

In response to the comments, Cambridgeshire Police tweeted: “Apologies for any confusion. This is just trying to get people to think about the difference between what is and isn’t a policing matter.”