A “friendly” Twitter feud between the Oxford Police Department and the Gainesville Police Department caught national attention and earned one officer a surprise visit to Gainesville.
The feud between the two police departments started on Saturday after Ole Miss defeated Vanderbilt and has received press from national sites such as NBC Sports, Fox Sports, ESPN and Sports Illustrated.
“Oxford threw the first blow,” said Ben Tobias, public information officer for the Gainesville Police Department.
Tobias has controlled the GPD Twitter account for three and a half years. The GPD account has gained over 800 new followers since the rivalry began on Saturday evening, and several students and other followers have participated in the on-going conversation, spreading the word through retweets, favorites and replies.
“We are having so much fun with it,” Tobias said. “It’s a nice, friendly rivalry.”
Even though the feud has taken on a playful tone, Tobias said that some Twitter users do not agree with the way the GPD and OPD are using their accounts.
Tobias said a GPD Twitter follower reached out to them about the lack of professionalism displayed on the social media site.
“Some people follow us solely for public safety warnings, and we have to respect that,” Tobias said.
Lt. Hildon Sessums and Maj. Jeff McCutchen run the OPD Twitter account. They said the account was created in order to communicate with the citizens of Oxford in an efficient way.
McCutchen and Sessums said feuding with rival police departments will not be a regular occurrence.
“This has been a fun week,” Mccutcheon said. “The tweets between GPD have helped us as law enforcement to show our human side.”
According to OPD, their staff was brought closer together through this experience.
Justin Kyle Tanner, 2015 Ole Miss Graduate, partook in the Twitter battle.
“I think OPD found a simple way to become more ‘human’ without having to reinvent the wheel,” Tanner said.
“With the current outlook on police, this is a really great way to create a positive interaction between cops and the community.”
Tobias said he thinks the feud has brought positive light to the police community.
“We’re humans behind our badges,” Tobias said. “It is especially hard to show that with the way police are viewed in our culture currently.”
Tobias said the GPD’s last words to OPD once the feud is over will be, “I’m never gonna give you up, I’m never gonna let you down. Never gonna run around and desert you.”
