Actually, let’s not go to Britain. Tis a silly place.

Maybe it’s just my Texan sensibilities, but when I see tweets from actual police departments that encourage people to tattle on others for saying mean things, my first thought is that the state is getting a little too big for its britches.

For instance, take this tweet from the South Yorkshire Police’s (SYP) Twitter account that hit the public on Sunday that read “in addition to reporting hate crime, please report non-crime hate incidents, which can include things like offensive or insulting comments, online, in person or in writing. Hate will not be tolerated in South Yorkshire. Report it and put a stop to it.”

In addition to reporting hate crime, please report non-crime hate incidents, which can include things like offensive or insulting comments, online, in person or in writing. Hate will not be tolerated in South Yorkshire. Report it and put a stop to it #HateHurtsSY pic.twitter.com/p2xf6OLoQZ — SouthYorkshirePolice (@syptweet) September 9, 2018

The SYP further elaborated in a later tweet that hurt feelings feel like an actual hate crime, and that someone’s willingness to hurt feelings can — CAN, mind you — lead to someone being willing to hurt body parts later.

Hi Neil, while non-crime hate incidents may not be criminal offences, they can feel that way to those affected & can sometimes escalate to crimes taking place. We work with partners to try & prevent this. More info on our website: https://t.co/yJGyHXT7LM — SouthYorkshirePolice (@syptweet) September 10, 2018

According to the SYP, this is part of a relaunched “Hate Hurts” campaign, which seeks to rid the city of what seems like intention. In other words, SYP is engaging in stopping someone potentially in the pre-crime phase.

Let’s be very clear here. UK police are now policing feelings, not just crime. I can’t tell you how dangerous of an Orwellian concept this is. Citizens of South Yorkshire don’t have to commit a crime to now be put on the police’s radar. All they have to do is hurt somebody’s feelings, and they’re suddenly a suspect.

Let’s keep in mind that each person has different sensitivity. A simple joke can get someone in some serious legal trouble because it was offensive to someone. It’s already happened before to a great degree. That means if someone perceives that someone’s innocuous joke or off-color comment as hate speech, the SYP will act because someone’s feelings were hurt.

I’m loathed to think how many South Yorkshire citizens are going to have legal troubles because they spoke out at someone in anger, or told a joke that someone didn’t appreciate. This isn’t an indicator of a free society, this is the sign that the UK has turned into an Orwellian daycare.

RedState has asked the SYP what kind of punishments people who say hurtful things will incur but has not yet gotten a response. From my perspective, however, any punishment for simple words and hurt feelings is too much.