One Illinois police department has decided that being arrested for drunk driving by itself is not embarrassing enough. To make sure you are fully humiliated they are going to tweet your name so that the whole world knows.
In order to deter people from drinking and driving, the Riverside Police Department has decided to engage in a little social shaming. They are going to tweet the names of everyone they arrest for DUI.
They defend their decision by noting that the names of people arrested are already made public. What they fail to appreciate is how information posted on social media like twitter tends to stick around for a long time. Anyone ever heard of a fresh start? What’s more these are names of people who have not been found guilty of anything, only arrested. Talk about innocent until proven guilty.
I think that what on first glance may have appeared like a harmless way to deter people from drinking and driving is actually riddled with more trouble than the department realizes.
Tags: DUI, Social Media