Force’s Instagram account costs £350k

POLICE are outraged that £350,000 a year is being spent on an Instagram account for teenagers rather than bobbies on the beat.

YourPolice.uk, a social media channel aimed at increasing engagement, has been labelled an “embarrassment” by serving officers as moderators reply even to abuse often using emojis.

The initiative, which consists of a single social media account, is costing the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) £350,000 a year.

Officers asked: “Should NPCC be spending £350k a year to run an account which promotes such things as rainbow cars and calls it ‘youth engagement’? Wouldn’t such money be better used by beat teams to help intervene in the mass youth violence?”

Police are replacing patrol cars with rainbow painted “hate crime cars” to encourage reporting of incidents.

The NPCC said the initiative had led to hundreds of reports including serious crimes against children that may have gone unreported.

The account has 19,400 followers and has posted 700 times. A job advert for a “Digital Engagement Officer” to work on the account shows a salary of £33,628 per annum, £10,000 a year more than the starting salary for police officers. The posts include advice for those being groomed or asked to share explicit content.