Canada's coolest police force is at it again...

Courtesy of @YRP here is your complimentary frosh week expense list. #makewisedecisions and #partywithcaution pic.twitter.com/vPbfATOPtK
— York Regional Police (@YRP) September 3, 2014

Remember when York Region Police "won the internet" by replying to a guy's Twitter request for dope? 

This year, they're using that same type of humour to warn local university and college students about the consequences of drunken hijinks. And somehow, they manage to make it feel less like a lecture:

Barbie joins the RCMP, goes ginger, in Mountie/Mattel cross-promo

Via The Mountie Shop

Cue the "she always gets her man" jokes. (Oh wait, the Globe and Mail already did that.)

The red-haired northern Barbie was briefly available directly from the RCMP's official e-commerce site before being completely bought out by what I can't help but visualize as hundreds of Mr. Smithers clones.

Via Tumblr

Here's the product description:

The Dolls of the World® Barbie® collection celebrates travels with Barbie® dressed in the ancestral clothing of her country. This Barbie® Doll of the World hails from the land of the maple leaf, maple syrup and the maple donut: Canada! Part of the Pink Label collection, RCMP Barbie® is dressed in the uniform currently worn by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, or Mounties, as they are widely known. Her scarlet tunic is accented with the cross strap and belt, navy and yellow breeches and tall Strathcona boots while her Stetson can be removed to reveal her bright red hair. RCMP Barbie® comes in keepsake travel trunk packaging and includes a “pink passport” for the perfect way for Barbie® to travel across Canada, and the world, in style!

I'm not sure the fitted tunic is regulation. (Her waist sure isn't!) And the loose hair wouldn't pass inspection. Plus, the pants aren't exactly that figure-hugging:

Via 

As one of Canada's most recognizable brands, the RCMP dress uniform lends itself to all sorts of cross-promotions, from collectible coins to Cookie Monster dolls.

The National Post reports that the RCMP's licensing fee from Mattel will go toward at-risk youth programs.

Delhi Police drop 'chop onions, not heads' campaign

Delhi Police have apologized and withdrawn an ad promoting vocational training for street children, after criticism that it promotes child labour.

The Huffington Post reports that the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights found the ad "in bad taste and diminishing the 'dignity and worth' of children, who are our future citizens.” They added, “This advertisement depicts a vulnerable child as a future criminal... besides, teaching a child how to chop an onion does not really do justice to a child.”

Child labour is a huge problem in India, but some saw even worse things in the ad. Juvenile justice expert Ananth Asthana told Indian Express, "It only shows the trivial thinking of Delhi Police on child rights. The authorities have a very wrong perception about juveniles, and this particular ad associates them with murder."

Sin tax on strip clubs to fund rape kits

Via Google Image Search

Here's one for you to think about: Houston's city council has passed a new tax on strip clubs within the city, adding a fee of $5 per patron to their cover charge.

The author of the ordinance, Councilwoman Ellen Cohen, put the motion forward as a way to subsidize the processing of the city's massive backlog of rape kits for sexual assault victims.

“We have to do something to help the 4,000-plus women, children and men who have been sexually assaulted,” said Councilwoman Cohen. “I think we’ve waited long enough.”

The victims certainly have waited too long for justice that has been delayed due to tight law enforcement budgets. But the tax also makes an official link between the above-ground sex industry and sexual assault, which is troubling for some (especially those who make money from it).

According to the Houston Chron:

A study Cohen relies upon to make the link states: “Are sexually-oriented-businesses, alcohol, and the victimization and perpetration of sexual violence against women connected? An exhaustive review of the literature says yes.” 

Several paragraphs later, though, the same study states: “However, no study has authoritatively linked alcohol, sexually-oriented-businesses, and the perpetration of sexual violence.”

Sin taxes are popular and profitable tools of social engineering when it comes to vices like cigarettes and alcohol. But whether you like them or not, do you think that consumers of legal sexual entertainment should be legally compelled to adjust their karma by paying to help sexual assault victims?


The Texas rape kit issue is a government funding issue. Last year, at the State level, Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, introduced a bill that would require a police department to submit a rape kit to a crime lab within at least 10 days, and complete the DNA analysis no later than 90 days after the sexual assault was reported. But it has since been stalled by police departments' inability and/or reluctance to do the inventories that would inform the legislators.

Councilman C.O. Bradford also called the nexus into question. He said that according to Houston Police Department, apartment complexes are the most common location for sexual assaults, and that sexually oriented businesses are 10th.

Still, said Bradford, a former police chief: “Victims have waited too long.”

Indeed they have. But is this what they were waiting for? Or did they want their government to pay to fix the problem?

Via Texas Tribune

Tip via Consumerist
Related: Houston Strip Club Accused Of Racism

F'd Ad Fridays: Inmate pranks cops with stealth piggie decal

That took balls.

AZ Central  reports that an unidentified inmate at St. Albans prison in Vermont managed to alter the State Seal when producing stickers for police vehicles, hiding a pig in the cow's pattern.

The stickers are now being removed.

Thanks to Jackie for the tip.

F'd Ad Fridays: Senior citizens gone wild!

This was a PSA of The Day at The Daily What, who wrote:

"Lancashire Police are warning resident to be on the lookout for a band of menacing pensioners roaming the streets and wreaking havoc. 

The (mostly) tongue-in-cheek PSA attempts to convey the message that anti-social behavior of any sort would not be tolerated in Lancashire, irrespective of age."

It is a rather silly ad, using the overdone "old people acting like young people" trope that Pepsi used to rely so heavily on.

Plus, it's hard not to think about Monty Python the whole time...

Who you gonna call?

MADD Canada recently announced that it is partnering with the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary to take more impaired drivers off the roads by launching their "Campaign 911" in the province:



Launched three years ago, the campaign uses signs, billboards, public service announcements, postcards, bookmarks and other material to try to convince the driving public that it is appropriate to call the emergency number if you suspect someone is driving impaired.

According to MADD's press release:

"When MADD Canada started this program in 2007, there was a widespread public misperception that impaired driving was not an appropriate reason to call 911, that it was not a true emergency ... we are pleased to say that programs such as Campaign 911 are changing that. We are seeing more and more reports of impaired drivers being taken off the roads because concerned citizens called 911."

The following are the warning signs that good citizens are supposed to watch out for:

1. Driving unreasonably fast, slow or at an inconsistent speed
2. Drifting in and out of lanes
3. Tailgating and changing lanes frequently
4. Making exceptionally wide turns
5. Changing lanes or passing without sufficient clearance
6. Overshooting or stopping well before stop signs or stop lights
7. Disregarding signals and lights
8. Approaching signals or leaving intersections too quickly or slowly
9. Driving without headlights, failing to lower high beams or leaving turn signals on
10.Driving with windows open in cold or inclement weather

This gives me some concern. On one hand, I would and have called 911 in cases where I suspected another driver on the road was driving with extreme recklessness — drunk or otherwise. I hate impaired driving with a passion, and have dedicated myself to combating the issue both personally and professionally. (Once, after a call, the OPP had my pregnant wife and me tail a car all the way from Carleton Place to Ottawa!)

On the other hand, there are already a lot of people out there who abuse the 911 emergency service, and others who are self-styled "hall monitors" of the roads. I hate it when people tailgate, speed excessively, cut off other cars, fail to lower highbeams, etc. But only a few of them I suspect of impairment. Most are just asses.

And then there's "driving with windows open in cold or inclement weather". Have you ever driven with a smoker? This is standard operating procedure.

That said, there have been significant cases of 911 callers stopping drunk drivers — even on a bus!

And the campaign is working. In Calgary, where it was launched 5 months ago, the number of calls has jumped 60 percent — resulting in a seventeen per cent increase in impaired driving charges.

There was no information given on the increased cost to 911 resources, or the number of mistaken or spiteful calls. But it seems that police forces and municipalities are embracing the new culture of non-violent citizen vigilantism.

Hopefully, common sense will prevail. And they'll at least pull over to use their phones, lest they add to the dangerous driving statistics.