According to Const. Robb Hartlen no one was even stopped and given a warning about drinking and driving. And Harlen believes this was all due to the social media campaign the police department began.
The social media campaign asked island residents to use the hashtag #notsobernotdriving on their social media accounts. And many did. A lot of people added their reasons why people should not drink and drive to their posts. Hartlen said one person who commented lived a block away from the police station while one comment came from a man in Moscow. The officer noted while police jurisdictions are small, social media reaches all parts of the world.
Hartlen believes there are probably some who simply heard about the hashtag being used and then made a conscious decision not to drink and drive. Whatever happened, it obviously worked.
This is not the first time the Kensington police made news over the department’s attempts to prevent impaired driving. Back in November, the Kensington Police Service posted on their Facebook page that anyone suspected of drinking and driving would be put in the back of a police car and forced to listen to Nickelback music. The tongue-in-cheek post said, “You don’t drink and drive and we won’t make you listen to it.” It went on to say, “And when we catch you, and we will catch you, on top of a hefty fine, a criminal charge and a year’s licence suspension we will also provide you with a bonus gift of playing the office’s copy of Nickelback in the cruiser on the way to jail.”
Fans of the Canadian group were not amused with one commenter likening the post to police brutality. One thing Hartlen did not count on was that after CBC wrote about it, the story was picked up by other media such as Time Magazine and CNN. Skits of people being forced to listen to Nickelback music appeared on Saturday Night Live and the Canadian show, This Hour Has 22 Minutes.
Hartlen then removed the original Facebook post and put up another one apologizing to the Canadian rock band. He wrote the anti-drinking and driving campaign had taken a back seat to “bashing the band.” He also apologized for the fact children were being sent the wrong message.
Whether it was all the attention given to the Kensington Police Service because of the Nickelback post or the hashtag, something worked to result in no drinking and driving arrests over the holiday period.
