The Chatham-Kent Police Service (CKPS) has launched an internal investigation in regards to social media procedures after a controversial tweet was reportedly posted by a civilian 911 dispatcher.
An Amber Alert was first issued late Thursday night for 11-year-old Riya Rajkumar. Her body was found hours later at a home in Brampton.
Some complaints about the alert were posted to social media while others called police directly to complain.
Our communications bureau is receiving numerous calls to 9-1-1, complaining about the late hour of the Amber Alert. As a direct result of someone receiving the alert, we were able to locate the suspect & his vehicle. The system works. Thank you to all those that called with tips.
— Peel Regional Police (@PeelPoliceMedia) February 15, 2019
One of the social media complaints has been linked to the Twitter account "@bManSays..." belonging to Brian French, a civilian member of the CKPS.
The post read, "Emergency Alert just scared the crap out of me!!! Suspect heading eastbound from Brampton??? Ummm I'm three hours west of Brampton. Idiots. How do I turn this [redacted] emergency alert off???"
The post has since been deleted. However, it is now the subject of an internal investigation with the CKPS.
"This is an internal, HR matter and we will not comment further on that topic," said Staff Sergeant Mike Domony in a statement.
The "bManSays..." account is a personal one that is not linked to any occupational field or website. The tweets associated with the account are personal views and not that of the CKPS.
Domony stressed the importance of the Amber Alert System through a statement and urged residents to support it as well.
"We would also ask members of the public to be mindful that these investigations and alerts are only used when they meet certain criteria and these cases involve danger to a child. These investigations have often been on-going for a period of time before an alert is issued," said Domony. "We’d ask all members of the public to keep these concepts in mind when an Amber Alert is utilized."
BlackburnNews.com has reached out to French for comment via email and Twitter but did not receive a response at the time of publication.