01-04-2025
Police must tell suspects that arrest is not an April Fool's joke
Police officers have been told they must make clear to suspects that they are not playing an April Fool's Day joke on them if they make arrests for certain crimes on Tuesday.
Policing bodies are concerned suspects will assume they are being pranked if they are questioned for offences such as upsetting people on Twitter.
As well as producing their warrant cards when making arrests on Tuesday, officers are being warned they may need to carry extra documentation to prove they are not wearing fancy dress.
The advice applies in particular to officers on early shifts as April Fool's Day jokes are by tradition carried out before midday.
Police are already facing criticism for arresting people over comments they have made online rather than spending their shifts investigating thefts and burglaries.
'Do I look like I'm joking?'
Lirpa Loof, of the pressure group Justice for Online Keyboard Enthusiasts (Joke) said: 'It's just as well police officers are being warned that people might not take them seriously if they turn up at their front door today of all days.
'Lots of people who have been arrested for making posts on social media in the past will have needed to check the date to make sure they weren't being taken for fools.'
The guidance to police forces was issued by Al Pofilor, of the Policing Regulations (Absolute Nonsense) Committee (Pranc) who said: 'We anticipate that officers who have to speak to people on April 1 who are suspected of things like non-crime hate incidents might struggle to be taken seriously.
'So we have issued guidance on what they might say to pre-empt such concerns, such as telling suspects, 'I am not a stripper hired by your mates' or 'do I look like I'm joking?'.
'Now I come to think of it, this might be something we need to tell officers to do every day, given the way things are going.'
