Wiltshire Police is facing backlash after posting a video of a drugs warrant which resulted in no arrests and no drugs being found at the address.
The video, shared on the Malmesbury Police Facebook page, shows officers forcing entry into a property during a planned raid yesterday morning (Monday, 30 June).
However, police failed to confirm in the footage that the search was unsuccessful, leading many to accuse the force of unfairly implying the occupants were involved in criminal activity.
The video was online for around 19 hours before the police posted in the comments section below it – confirming that “no drugs were found and no arrests were made”.
Retired Malmesbury police sergeant, Martin Alvis, has today (Tuesday) added his voice to the growing criticism on social media.
He wrote: “Community intelligence is vital in fighting crime in the community, however you also need the trust and confidence of the community to perform your duty in keeping the community safe.
“A little more haste in jumping to social media maybe before posting these type of videos. The damage done to communities can take ages to repair.
“Yes there will always be negative and positive warrants but there has to be a fine balance when you engage in such post. And I know what I’m talking about, not lost my marbles yet!”
Social media users have reacted strongly, with many expressing outrage over what they describe as a ‘misleading’ portrayal of the operation.
One person commented: ‘Anyone watching this video would think that this was a successful operation with successful outcomes.
‘Sounds like the opposite and in fact all they have done is acted on bad intelligence and potentially ruined a family’s life.’
Another added: ‘This video is out of line. It’s portraying this household as a drugs den when it’s a family home.
‘No drugs or evidence of drugs were found and no arrests made. This video should never have been posted anywhere.’
Others criticised the decision to share the footage online, suggesting it was an attempt to gain attention while damaging the reputation of innocent people.
One resident said: ‘The way you have skewed this post to imply something that didn’t happen is ironically exactly how this situation falsely occurred in the first place.
‘It seems you’ve fallen prey to the social media trap of fake posing for likes, regardless of the very real families destroyed in the process.’
Lisa Tweedie, who runs the Make Malmesbury Even Better Facebook group, said she believes Wiltshire Police made an “error of judgement” in posting the video and called for them to clarify the facts.
She told Wiltshire 999s: “My perception from what I have read is that the police made an error of judgement posting the video.
“Social media needs to be used very carefully. Using someone’s family home without permission as essentially a backdrop for advertising is not acceptable in my view.
“It would be sensible for the police to clarify what actually took place.”
Wiltshire Police was approached for comment on their decision to share the video and with no mention of the outcome. Instead of addressing the concerns raised, they issued a statement on the operation itself.
“Yesterday morning we executed a drugs warrant in Malmesbury which had been granted by the court based on community intelligence”, Royal Wootton Bassett Inspector Scott Anger said.
Adding: “We have a duty to act on intelligence provided in order to protect our communities. During this warrant, no drugs were found and no arrests were made.
“We will continue to take robust action based on community concerns and would encourage the public to continue reporting their concerns to us. This can be done via 101 or anonymously on Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.”
Wiltshire 999s published the video shortly after it was issued by Wiltshire Police on social media – however, on hearing that nothing was found in the raid, we took the decision to remove it.
