The Internet does not hold back when it feels the need to shame any type of wrongdoing. That was clear after the West Yorkshire police used Twitter to flippantly humiliate a homeless couple who were fined for not having insurance on the car they were living in.



An officer from the Road Policing Unit used the department’s official Twitter account to post a photo, taken from a vehicle, of the man and woman dragging their belongings across the road. The tweet, which was quickly deleted, read: “Horbury Rd, Wakefield. Vehicle seized for no insurance yesterday. Driver living out of car #luggagewalkofshame.”



Another tweet was sent shortly after, which patronized a similar situation of a driver living out of his car. The hastag included ’#carinsurancenothomeinsurance,’ and was later deleted.



The outcry from the social media site was swift and furious, raging at the police for shaming the couple, rather than helping them.



@AdmW wrote: "I do hope you can put them in touch with organisations that can help them in their challenging situation? Disappointed by tweet.



@MuttonJeff2 wrote: And did you offer advice to where they may receive assistance for their situation or just amuse yourself with dimwitted hashtags.



The West Yorkshire Police eventually issued an apology: "We thank the Huddersfield Examiner for immediately bringing this matter to our attention.

This is clearly an inappropriate tweet which we have immediately removed from our Twitter account, and we are looking into the circumstances as to why it has been posted.



Regardless of any offences people have committed they still deserve their human dignity and we would apologize for the offence this has caused.”



The New York police union has also been scrutinized for starting a Flickr account that featured photos of homeless people, along with cruel captions. The Sergeants Benevolent Association encouraged its members to snap shots, while off duty, of homeless people to include in their "Peek-a-Boo, We See You Too" campaign.



The New York Post reports that in a letter to union members, president Ed Mullins wrote: “As you travel about the city of New York, please utilize your smartphones to photograph the homeless lying in our streets, aggressive panhandlers, people urinating in public or engaging in open-air drug activity and quality-of-life offenses of every type.”



Twitter and various blogs quickly shamed the police union for showing such a lack of empathy. The photos have since been deleted.

