US cop wins tweeting award for creative, informative posts
Image: AP Photo/Matt Rourke
A twitter post in late October from Kansas policeman Ben Gardner featured a large cow curled up on top of a BMW sedan’s hood.
Remember it’s cold outside and animals seek warmth in and around vehicles !!
Look around your ride !
— Trooper Ben (@TrooperBenKHP) October 27, 2017
The message from the spokesman for the Midwestern US state’s highway patrol department was that animals seek warm cars during winter’s cold.
“Look around your ride!” he warned in the tweet, with a smiley face.
Gardner’s informative and creative posts earned him an accolade Friday from the Police Twitter Awards, a United Kingdom-based competition showcasing the importance of Twitter “in building relationships with our communities.”
For instance, he advocates safe driving through relevant events or pop culture references.
OMG !!!!!#KSTATE FOOTBALL !!
Get a #DesignatedDriver people !!!!!!
— Trooper Ben (@TrooperBenKHP) November 25, 2017
Don’t go FULL Clark Griswold after finding the right Christmas tree….
🎄#JustSaying pic.twitter.com/PTdCPAKkt5— Trooper Ben (@TrooperBenKHP) November 24, 2017
The officer’s Twitter profile @TrooperBenKHP, which has nearly 32,000 followers, was the winner of the Best International Account—the only award open to a police-related account outside of the UK.
Image: Screen grab via Twitter
“It is an honor to be the winner of this category,” Gardner said in an acceptance speech video published—where else—on Twitter.
“To be able to build a bridge with the people that I serve, and to reach people outside of my own state of Kansas… has had impact on my life,” he said.
Gardner’s fellow nominees were a police officer in the state of North Carolina whose twitter account @OfficerMorton includes doughnut jokes and video skits, and a fan account for “Live PD,” a police documentary series on US cable television. NVG
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