From Narcos to Game of Thrones, Bangalore police knows how to woo the millennial
The police in India are satirised as potbelied, purposeless and problematic — a highly archaic (read ageing men associated with boring bureaucracy). But the Bengaluru City Police are giving the "boring cop" image a run for their money via their Twitter handle.
By throwing in witty pop cultural references like Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, and Narcos and using memes and jokes to spread awareness about issues such as drunk driving, road safety, online fraud, etc, the cops in Bangalore are winning the hearts of netizens - one tweet at a time.
Most recently, in a bid to scare drug-dealers in the city, the Bangalore police Twitter account shared photos of actor Wagner Moura, who plays the role of Pablo Escobar, in the hit Netflix series Narcos. They even tweeted a tiny poem to go along with it.
Roses are red Violets are blue, Heard you're selling drugs, We'll come visit you. pic.twitter.com/z5DIsngG7B
— BengaluruCityPolice (@BlrCityPolice) May 18, 2017
Of course, how could Netflix India manage to let this pass, without joining in on the fun? They replied with another poem, and an offer from their end.
@BlrCityPolice Roses are red,Violets are blue,Murphy & Peña might wanna work for you. pic.twitter.com/OxzPJsNBVT
— Netflix India (@NetflixIndia) May 18, 2017
But the proud Bangalore police don't the help of Steve Murphy and Javier Peña to deal with drug lords in the city. Nope.
@NetflixIndia Roses are red Violets are blue We got this, dear Netflix If we need help, we'll tell you ;)
— BengaluruCityPolice (@BlrCityPolice) May 18, 2017
Some time ago, the social media genius who run the Bengalore City Police's Twitter account, had won over people with a road safety message featuring Jon Snow:
What Jon knows now...99% : Nothing1% : Road Safety#GameOfLife pic.twitter.com/ek60Nqcuxg
— BengaluruCityPolice (@BlrCityPolice) May 2, 2017
Followed by this cheeky announcement of a drug bust:
If your dealer did not reach you with your stash, this is probably why. Don't worry, you can come to the Police Station and collect it. pic.twitter.com/wqxPvmvxQo
— BengaluruCityPolice (@BlrCityPolice) May 1, 2017
A Game of Thrones reference for road safety, or taking a subtle dig at an IPL team - the Bengaluru City Police's humorous and hip take on social issues has caught the fancy of India's mostly young internet users.
Winter is Coming:
Be a Skywalker instead. Please use the Skywalk.#GameOfLife #JustBCPThings pic.twitter.com/KgAMzYISyV
— BengaluruCityPolice (@BlrCityPolice) May 4, 2017
Another GoT reference:
Pls ignore all calls claiming to be your bank, lottery or even the King of Westeros. They can only steal from you if you give them the OTP. pic.twitter.com/BbM5Csd5kK
— BengaluruCityPolice (@BlrCityPolice) May 1, 2017
And it's not just Game of Thrones. The uber-cool people of Bengaluru Police are also Harry Potter fans, apparently.
Muggles, take note:
Don't drink and driveWe're pretty sure you've heardYou might crash or worseEven if you're a wizard pic.twitter.com/AUuMZThgrW
— BengaluruCityPolice (@BlrCityPolice) April 28, 2017
This new-found sense humour comes from a number of young Indians hired to handle the Bengaluru Police's social meda account.
Speaking to The Times of India, police comissioner Praveen Sood said, "Uniformed policemen are no longer handling the accounts. Instead, a young team of social media operators is doing the job. The response to new tweets has been good. We are adding at least 1,000 followers on a daily basis."
Now, Jon Snow might know nothing, but the Bengaluru City Police surely knows how to play it cool while doing your job.
Their Twitter handle has become all the rage on social media:
Okay, copied or not, Bengaluru police are really creative with these public interest messages. Do we need this for #Gurgaon? @mfuloria https://t.co/hvWsWxSA5z
— Vaibhav Gadodia (@whoisvaibhav) May 4, 2017
@lakshmi13688 @sreenadh19 @sreejithzkp Bengaluru police is truly savage. See the spoilers. https://t.co/plxMFoYAJp
— The Luci (@the_luci) May 4, 2017
BCP & CCB did a Khul Jaa Sim Sim!Raid leads to a man with over one lakh fake IDs used for Sim purchases. @cpblr https://t.co/R5h3E6VsKU
— BengaluruCityPolice (@BlrCityPolice) April 30, 2017
It was at this very moment they knew, they shouldn't have brought their circus to the streets.Why risk your life and that of the others? pic.twitter.com/kL5NkLu9Xx
— BengaluruCityPolice (@BlrCityPolice) April 30, 2017
Raided a shop that was selling US Polo, Adidas, Puma & Nike fake clothing. To protect consumers, we really had to JUST DO IT :) pic.twitter.com/GAotv1AJch
— BengaluruCityPolice (@BlrCityPolice) April 26, 2017