The City of Kawartha Lakes Police Service says it’s no longer posting the names of the people they’ve charged on the service’s Facebook page.
“Our job is to get the information out there, to our community,” said Sgt. Tom Hickey. “It’s not to facilitate public persecution of that person endlessly.”
Hickey said the service was having some problems with Facebook users tracking down accused people and posting information or inappropriate comments.
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But that wasn’t the only issue. Hickey said the service began receiving complaints from named people after their charges were dealt with through the courts.
“It started to come to light when people were saying, ‘I’ve had these charges dealt with in court, but my name is still surfacing at the top of the Google search, and that’s because it’s on your Facebook page or your webpage.'”
The service is still releasing the names of accused persons, but Hickey said users will just have to work a little harder to get it, by clicking a link on its Facebook page which redirects readers to the service’s website.
He said that link will expire after one month.
But the Lindsay-area police service is far from the only one taking this step.
Peterborough County OPP Const. Jason Folz says the provincial force rarely posts on its social media feeds the names of people arrested.
He said a site like Twitter is used more often as a broadcast tool, using regional accounts to share information about road conditions or collisions.
He said the OPP may post names if someone is missing or wanted by police.
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