Bangor police snap photo of man with a ‘cops suck’ tattoo to spread a message

Yesterday, the Bangor Police Department posted a photo and bit of writing like it normally does. Though this photo was unusual. It showed a police officer standing next to a man with these words tattooed across the back of his fingers: “cops suck.” And the police officer was smiling.

If you haven’t seen it yet, take a quick moment to read through it. The police apparently met a man named Russell who “agreed with the fact that he had to move along from his chosen location.” He was not arrested or charged. And they laughed about the ink on his knuckles.

(Courtesy of the Bangor Police Department)

(Courtesy of the Bangor Police Department)

Maybe, in the past, his interactions with police went differently. As the Facebook post reads:

Maybe I am putting too much thought into this. I see this photo as a lesson.

If this situation had been handled differently, it might have led to the handcuffing of our friend, Russell. Handcuffing would have necessitated placing the man’s hands very close together. Two words could have become a sentence. A sentence that would have confirmed exactly what Russell might have believed at one point in his past.

That would have been too bad.

Today we should all try a little conversational kindness. Avoid taking it “up a notch.” It most often works quite well.

The men and women of the Bangor Police Department urge everyone to keep their hands to themselves, leave other people’s things alone and be kind to one another.

And it looks like others agree. As of today, about 5,300 people had liked the post; 524 people shared it; and 209 people commented on it. Here’s one gem: “Could the ‘C’ on ‘COPS’ be changed to ‘O’ to make it ‘OOPS’???” (Plus Boston.com wrote about it, too.) What are you doing today to be kind in your conversations?