Police forced to issue apology over humiliating social media post

Thu, 28 Sep 2023

Who do you call if you’re stuck driving in a storm? According to a Facebook post issued last night (September 27) by the Isle of Man Constabulary Roads Policing Unit, not them.

The Constabulary issued a post (that has since been removed, but is included below) that suggested two individuals were out “having a skeet at the elements”.

It also stated that “given the forecast this at the very least was a daft thing to do & definitely wasn’t a 999 emergency”.

However, today (September 28) the girls have hit back at the authorities on a community Facebook page explaining that the driver has only recently passed her test and was very concerned for her and her passengers safety as they drove home from work, in-fact not “having a skeet at the elements”.

Their post states that their phones had little charge and no service, so calling parents wasn’t an option, but they recall being told to call the coastguard if in trouble.

As the girls started to feel unsafe driving in the force of the storm, they made the decision to phone the emergency services for help and guidance.

According to the girls, they were made to feel “stupid” for going out in the car and then “ridiculous for calling them” when in need of help. The only help they were offered was “exit the car and walk home”.

This morning the Isle of Man Constabulary Media Page have issued an apology on its Facebook page, which said “this post was regrettably unacceptable and should not have been published”.

It added that the matter has been referred to its professional standards department for further investigation and said that if a member of the public feels they’re in danger or in need of help should be encouraged to ask for help.

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