Influential police inspector's Twitter account suspended over alleged misuse
An award-winning police inspector with thousands of followers on social media has been silenced by force bosses concerned about alleged misuse of his Twitter account.
Inspector Michael Brown had around 16,700 followers on his account @MentalHealthCop which updated people with news on his work around policing and mental health.
He has scooped several awards for his work specialising in mental health policing and used Twitter updates and his separate blog site to explain complex issues of law.
It is claimed Inspector Brown had raised concerns about resources.
West Midlands Police suspended his Twitter account at the weekend and the blog site was closed after the force called the investigation.
In the hours before his account was suspended, Inspector Brown tweeted: "Yep – on NIGHTS now and have just had a right old time trying to resource everything going off.
"The worst thing about it all, is that it's mostly a result of really poor choices, that didn't need to be made. Costing lives and billions."
In a statement the force said the account had been suspended after being recently monitored.
The statement said: "Certain aspects of the officer's communication are currently being investigated for alleged misuse of a force account and as such it would be inappropriate for the account to continue whilst further enquiries are made."
Assistant Chief Constable Garry Forsyth added: "Our policy is intended to enable officers and staff to communicate with our communities effectively to offer an insight into our work.
"It does impose some restrictions but we are, of course, an organisation that holds sensitive information so we have to ensure that there is some restraint.
"I also can't imagine any organisation that would want its employees to be openly critical of it – or indeed allow it.
"The policy is not intended to discourage personal perspectives and I believe a human element assists with engagement."
West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner Bob Jones questioned the move and said he would raise it with the chief constable Chris Sims.
Legal tweeter and journalist David Allen Green, who goes by the name Jack of Kent on Twitter, urged Twitter users to contact ACC Forsyth with 'constructive feedback' on the decision to launch an investigation into the inspector's online profiles.
ACC Garry Forsyth said that the officer had not been suspended from duty and that they were seeking a resolution.
