Story highlights
They say the message was overshadowed by a joke
"We don't succeed off the backs of others"
Remember the Canadian police force that said it would force drunk drivers to listen to Nickelback on the way to jail?
It’s singing a different tune now: Sorry.
In a new Facebook post, Constable Robb Hartlen of Kensington police said he didn’t carefully consider his actions when he came up with his genius plan.
“Our post became an international story. And somewhere in the noise, the message of Don’t Drink and Drive was overshadowed by negativity towards the band I said I would play if you did,” he said.
Hartlen also apologized to the band.
“As we spoke I found out some wonderful news. They feel just as strong about it as I do. So we decided it was best to take down the original post.”
Bullying is never okay
Bullying, he wrote, is never okay and that’s the biggest reason for his change of heart.
“How could I, later this week, walk into an elementary school classroom in uniform and try to teach the kids that bullying is wrong when I was guilty of the exact thing?” Hartlen asked.
“As a police officer we are better than that. We don’t succeed off the backs of others. We are called to lift up those that are down,” said Hartlen.
The original post, which has long disappeared, was intended for those “dumb enough to feel they can drink and drive.”
“When we catch you, and we will catch you,” the department added, “on top of a hefty fine, a criminal charge and a years driving suspension we will also provide you with a bonus gift of playing the offices copy of Nickelback in the cruiser on the way to jail.”
Hartlen told CNN at the time the department doesn’t actually hate the band - Canada’s most questionable gift to the world.
“We are just using a different approach to get an age-old message communicated,” he said. “As long as it starts the ‘Don’t drink and drive’ dialogue, we’re happy with that.”
Here’s its recent post in full.