'It's such an old school mentality': Edmonton police pull TikTok video after backlash

EDMONTON -

The Edmonton Police Service has created a TikTok account to better engage with the community, but its most recent video is being met with mixed reviews. 

The popular social media platform is used by the police department's community engagement unit as a way to connect with more people, but one of the videos is gaining attention for the wrong reasons, with some calling it unprofessional and misogynistic.

The video, which has since been removed, showed an Edmonton police officer performing Stone Cold Steve Austin’s famous beer can smash while heading out to intercept his daughter’s date.

“I’m really confused what that specific TikTok has to do with their mandate of community engagement,” Brittany Hodges, a communications consultant, told CTV News Edmonton.

“It’s just such an old school mentality.”

“They’re supposed to be role models and watch out for people who do drink and drive and they’re kind of promoting it in a way here,” Brittany Sanson, an Edmonton resident, added.

In a statement to CTV News on Tuesday, Cheryl Sheppard, from the EPS media relations unit, said no alcohol was used in the making of the video and acknowledged it “missed the mark.”

However, Hodges told CTV News she takes issue with the overall tone of the post.

“It plays into the narrative of women’s bodies being controlled by men, going from being owned by her father to maybe being owned by a husband,” she explained.

“I think you could do it less problematic,” Chloe Baumgartner, an Edmonton resident, added.

“Many people felt the video promoted outdated gender norms, violence and intimidation as inappropriate problem solving tools, and drinking and driving — this was not the intention, but unfortunately the impact,” Sheppard said in a statement.

'THERE MIGHT BE SOMETHING WRONG WITH THIS'

Hodges explained an organization the size of EPS would have to go through a number of channels to have the video approved.

“It just shows that the voice saying, ‘Hey guys, there might be something wrong with this…’ That voice was missing every single step of the way.”

While the EPS feed is generally filled with lighthearted content or behind the scenes insights, one Edmontonian said this video was a swing and a miss.

“I like what they’re attempting to do,” Bree Baumgartner explained.

“But I would say: Let’s come back to the drawing board.”

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Jeremy Thompson