KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- A Kalamazoo company has teamed with the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety to launch a national campaign hoping to highlight positive interactions between police officers and their communities. On Monday, Rhino Media announced the creation of "The Good Cop" web site, where people can share their good interactions with police officers and nominate officers to be honored every month.
Rhino Media asked the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety to work with it to launch The Good Cop. Rhino has created a web site and media platform with a Facebook page and on Twitter with the hashtag #GoodCop.
It's no secret police are not always the most well-liked public servants, especially with the rising era of social media. The Good Cop Facebook page shows officers doing positive things every day.
"We talk a lot at Rhino actually about the plague of what we coin 'the Internet mob:' that mentality that takes something and blows it way out of context," said Rhino Media project manager Jeremy Angeletti. "You can take some of these isolated events and it gets blown out of context on social media for the next three or four weeks. All the while, overwhelmingly the interactions of police and citizens in the country are positive."
The social media buzz features a video with the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety, which has amassed thousands of views and gained national attention.
"We don’t want to not acknowledge that we are human beings, we're susceptible to mistakes, and we need though to continue though to continually build and solidify our relationships with the citizens we serve," said KDPS Officer Jim Mallery. "We looked at this as an outstanding opportunity to collaborate with a local business in downtown Kalamazoo and to help not only our relationship with our immediate local communty, but also we recognize the benefit to professional policing nationally."
If you want more information, click here for The Good Cop Facebook page or click here to go to the website.
