Police report missing girl’s find via Twitter – before informing mother
Greater Manchester police have been forced to apologise to the mother of a missing girl after reporting that she had been found safe and well on Twitter before contacting her.
The blunder sparked consternation from Twitter users who pointed out that the telephone would have been a more appropriate medium to relay the news initially – after the parent logged into Twitter to find out what was happening.
The blunder began when the force excitedly tweeted: “'**** HAS BEEN FOUND BY POLICE IN THE TOWN CENTRE!!! THANK YOU PLEASE RT”.
This was promptly picked up by the girl’s mother who replied:”has my daughter been found”.
A cowed officer then had to reply: “Yes, an officer will be in touch or call 101 and they will update and return her. Thank you.”
The force later published an apology saying: “Officers on the ground contact mum direct I was unaware at time of posting mum had not been advised and can only apologise.”
The tweets now appear to have been deleted from the Twitter feed.