The man behind what might be the most playful and active police Twitter account in Canada is taking his dad jokes to his personal account.
Newly appointed Chief Ray Bernoties will still use the Oak Bay Police Department Twitter account. But after years of mostly positive feedback, he’s seen enough negative feedback from dissenters and will shift the department’s main account to a bare bones, business-like use of social media.
There may be many collateral issues with legalization. Lets not make impaired driving one of them. Have a safe ride plan. #yyj #legalizationday pic.twitter.com/2yBOBMkCGP
— Oak Bay Police (@OakBayPolice) October 17, 2018
“Creating my own account is something I had been contemplating but I have no interest in having a boring account filled with selfies to show the public that I attended various events,” Bernoties said on Monday. “Even my family wouldn’t want to follow that.”
READ ALSO: Oak Bay cops tackle tough subjects with Twitter humour
Bernoties’ use of social media is part of the community engagement that Oak Bay Police is known for and will continue, he said.
“I like engaging people and showing our human side but, as you can imagine, if your goal is to have people hate police, our account was a problem and thus a magnet for cop-haters.”
Despite opposition, I've decided to create a personal account to be able to share my views, etc without anyone bashing this organization or our incredible members. Our official account will be a little more 'predictable'. But if you can handle bad dad jokes follow me @ray_oak pic.twitter.com/za5oujRVuT
— Oak Bay Police (@OakBayPolice) September 21, 2020
Bernoties said he is worried his humour (or lackthereof) and cheeky demeanor may impact the image of his staff.
The current climate of anti-police sentiment has also played a role as ACAB (all cops are bastards) has shown up in his social media feed. Last week a vandal even spray-painted “kill police” in Oak Bay.
READ MORE: Officer leads the flare in Saanich Police’s social media
“If someone wants to say RIAB (Ray is a bast—d), I have no problem with that,” Bernoties said. “But ACAB is an unfair attack on all cops including my colleagues, friends I’ve lost, and others who are doing things most will never have to do in their lifetimes,” Bernoties said.
How about this one? #SeanConnery turned 90 today! If he was here, he'd say "Pleash shtop at shtop shigns. It could shave shomeone'sh life!"🛑Sean would shtop. https://t.co/omUoGrc7Hh pic.twitter.com/xI7oWcE30N
— Oak Bay Police (@OakBayPolice) August 25, 2020
Expect the Oak Bay Police regular Twitter account to become what you would expect from other police Twitter accounts, Bernoties added.
The weather has been very hot and it looks like that will continue. Your dog would rather be home than in your car waiting for you while you're shopping, etc. #hotdogs aren't meant to be trapped in cars. #OakBay #yyj pic.twitter.com/xAgIWXqZCA
— Oak Bay Police (@OakBayPolice) July 27, 2020
The weather has been very hot and it looks like that will continue. Your dog would rather be home than in your car waiting for you while you're shopping, etc. #hotdogs aren't meant to be trapped in cars. #OakBay #yyj pic.twitter.com/xAgIWXqZCA
— Oak Bay Police (@OakBayPolice) July 27, 2020
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