Crewe Police Department Ask ‘Is This Your Cocaine?’ In Facebook Post

The Crewe Police Department in Virginia has taken an unorthodox approach to making arrests, using Facebook to investigate a drug case.

Crewe Police Facebook Post: Cocaine Found

On Tuesday, Feb. 17, Facebook followers of the Crewe Police Department noticed an odd post inquiring about some cocaine they found at the local Super Dollar store.

“On 2/17/15 we were called to Super Dollar for narcotics that had been found in the store. We are now in possession of a white substance that appears to be cocaine. If you mistakenly dropped your cocaine today and were at the Super Dollar, please contact us. We would like to talk with you further about your property,” read the post.

According to police, they discovered a plastic bag with a bit of cocaine on the floor of a dollar store, and the responding officer, Detective Ella Turner, decided to get a little playful when tasked with the question of finding the drug owner. Turner has been in charge of the department’s Facebook account for two years, and revealed she’s learned to use it as a tool to connect with the public in a positive way.

“People like to hear about dramatic things that are happening in town. We want them to realize we’re human and to talk to us,” Turner explained.

Many responses to the post have been humorous: a user named Joshua wrote “I dropped about a gram… I’m gonna need that back. I’m crashing kinda hard right now [sic].” Another, under the name ‘Henry Graham Kicklighter,’ wrote, “I want my cocaine back, please. I was going to sell it because I need weapons.”

After receiving many inquiries as to whether or not they would return the drugs to the owner, the Crewe Police Department clarified, “NO! We will not give you back your illegal narcotics. The narcotics are weighed, photographed and placed into an evidence locker to be destroyed upon the approval of the courts…we do not re-distribute your drugs.”

Despite the lighthearted response to the post, Turner insisted her Facebook post was not meant to make light of the crime, saying, “We’re not degrading the seriousness of the drug problem.”

Instead, Turner said that a funny tone often helps draw more public attention: “They’ll pay attention if we put it like that. If we’re humorous, that can get the ball rolling.”

It’s unclear whether or not the Facebook post has turned up any leads in the case, but it has given Crewe Police Department a decent amount of publicity.