The police department has removed a social media post recruiting new officers after receiving multiple complaints about a reference to an ad for a popular video game.
Police chief apologizes after ad is removed
Peoria police posted an image on Facebook last week that showed three men in tactical gear and police uniforms. Police guns are depicted, including one pointed directly at the camera.
“Stop playing games and meet your duty,” the ad reads. The text includes contact information for two police officers.
call of duty is a popular first-person shooter video game in which players take on the role of military personnel tasked with various missions in which they have to shoot at enemies. The font used in the ad looks like this: call of duty A logo used to promote the game.
Several commenters on this post criticized the use of video game references within the post and how it is used to appeal to a specific audience.
The Peoria Journal Star reported two days later that the police chief apologized for the ad, which has since been removed. Peoria Police Chief Eric Echevarria told the newspaper he did not intend to hurt anyone.
“I take responsibility for this matter and sincerely apologize,” he said in a statement to the Journal Star.
Police may be concerned about legal action
Social media's reaction to this is call of duty The job ad may not have been the only concern for the Peoria Police Department before it was removed.
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A new report from video game website Kotaku says members of the department were worried about being sued by Activision, the company that owns the game. call of duty franchise. The website cited a 404 Media article containing emails allegedly sent by people discussing advertising campaigns within the department.
Kotaku reported that “none of the emails contained any concerns about the gamification or glorification of police work.”
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