Allen Park police praised a teen for a good deed. Social media buried him in criticism

Yahoo

22-02-2025

Earlier this month, Allen Park police gave a shoutout to a student it identified by just a first name, John, who made "jail cuff holders" as a high school welding project, and it posted his photo holding his work on its Facebook page.
Now, more than 2,500 comments later, many of them unflattering and some downright mean, the suburban Detroit department is trying to understand what when wrong — and seeking to protect the student from the fallout, which includes cyberbullying.
In a digital age, social media has the power to make everyday people heroes, but it also can put innocent bystanders in the crosshairs of a cultural war that is being waged online that has virtually no rules.
What's more, it's increasingly unclear when social media posts go bad what public agencies should do about them.
In this case, it appears, at least from the police department's perspective, a teen who sought to do a good deed became the target of social media criticism that inexplicably went viral.
"Our thanks to AP student, John, who made jail cuff holders as a school project," the post, which included a photo of the young man, said. "He generously donated his project to us. We think he deserves a day off for all his hard work."
AP, in the post, stood for Allen Park not Advance Placement, what many high school call their college-level classes and some commenters obviously assumed as they mocked the student.
The post went on to urge John to "keep up the great work!"
Many readers, however, did the opposite.
"Once I did the post, the initial feedback was positive," Allen Park Police Sgt. Patrick Moore told the Free Press on Friday. "People thanked him and complimented him on his work, and I didn't think anything of it until yesterday."
That's when, he said, he started getting notifications "the comments turned negative."
In comments, folks criticized all sorts of things, from the black hoodie the student was wearing that had the date 1776 printed on it, to concerns that the student has what they deemed to be an unhealthy interest in policing.
Some comments, the police said, made assumptions about the teen's politics, while others seemed to have nothing to do with the original post and were more of a response to the current political climate.
By Friday afternoon, after reviewing the responses, Chief Eron Feltz, deleted the post.
He also called the Allen Park High student a "great kid."
Moore — who was taken aback by many of the comments he characterized as "anti-police" sentiment and even "slander" — said in the past few days he tried to take steps to try to minimize harm.
"The student had no idea this post had gone the way it had," Moore explained, adding that when the young man found out, he seemed to take the news good-naturedly, said he hadn't been physically bullied at school, and "actually seemed amused with it."
As social media evolves, police departments — and other public agencies and figures, including the nation's president — are trying to figure out how to harness the power of social media to make government more transparent and responsive.
They also can quickly spread unverified information and untruths.
Moore said that as the comments turned negative, he restricted them.
Then, the sergeant said, he learned he made some errors when he initially wrote the post.
It was the police officer who works with the school, he said, that suggested John make the hardware, metal loops that attach to a wall or bench that handcuffs can be attached to, because the jail needed them. It wasn't John's idea.
Moore started looking at how he might set the record straight.
Police said they also talked to the student's mom.
Why not just take the post down?
Well, Moore said, as public agency, the police are still figuring out how to treat social media posts. The department, he said, tries to regard them as a public record, and deleting the post, he initially said, would be akin to deleting a police report.
And how do you unpublish what is, essentially a public record, without destroying it?
The police chief, who later spoke to the Free Press, however, decided to delete the post.
Moore, who is responsible for posting to social media for the department, said that the relatively new way of communicating directly with the public has its good points — and bad.
But for the most part, he said, the benefit seems to outweigh the harm.
With social media, he said, the department can communicate directly with the public.
It can alert residents to dangers and keep them informed. It can — as it tried to do —recognize officers for their service and bravery, and citizens too. It also can, as it did last fall, defuse tension when everything seems to going wrong.
In October, an early morning roadway mishap with doughnuts became an opportunity for Krispy Kreme to thank Allen Park officers. An unsecured door latch to a delivery truck at about 1 a.m. apparently left several boxes and trays of its haul on the road.
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A funny social media post by the department and ensuing news media coverage, led to the doughnuts maker sending boxes and boxes of the glazed treats to the department. More than a public relation's stunt, the doughnuts were recognition of the officers' hard work.
Friday, Moore said, he didn't understand exactly why so much vitriol was expressed toward John — and his school project.
Moore was reluctant to say whether he has had second thoughts about the post — or whether, if he could go back in time knowing what he does now, he'd do it again. But he did say that despite the comments, the department appreciated what John did.
Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or [e-mail].
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Teen faces undeserved wrath after Allen Park police praise him online