Police Departments Launch ‘Turn in Your Ex’ Valentine’s Day Campaign
Several police departments are encouraging people to reject "romantic tradition" and instead turn in exes that may have wronged them. Skeptics counter that the unorthodox strategy could prompt revenge efforts rather than serve as a crime-fighting tool.
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Several police departments are encouraging people to reject “romantic tradition” and instead turn in exes that may have wronged them, happen to have outstanding warrants, or even drugs in their car, this Valentine’s Day, reports the Washington Post. The unorthodox strategy to encourage the community to come forward with tips, that also offers a Valentine’s Day “month-long special” including “a set of limited-edition platinum bracelets, free transportation with a chauffeur, a one-night minimum stay in luxurious accommodations and professional glamor shots that will be posted on online for all to enjoy,” has been adopted by police departments in Port Orange, FL., Lake Arthur, LA., and Rockmart, GA. Critics, such as Maria Haberfeld, chair of the law and police science department at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and others, raised concerns that the move could prompt people to act out of spite and revenge without providing solid information. She described these types of campaigns as “inappropriate,” and warned of the dangers of trivializing criminal conduct and inciting people “to provide false information as part of a revenge scheme” while also putting the potential informers “on a path of danger, if and when one of the ‘exes’ finds out who provided the police with the information.”
