Police department jokes about writing 'popo' on their cars

Police in Michigan have divided social media users after jokingly rebranding their squad cars with 'popo'.

Bath Township Police Department explained in a tongue-in-cheek Facebook post that they resorted to using the slang term after struggling to reach out to teens:

We are still struggling to really reach the younger folk out there. So in an effort to bridge that gap, we’ve decided to update our patrol car graphics in an attempt to be more relatable to the local youths.

Some people were not amused, accusing the police department of racism.

Meanwhile, others pointed out that youth culture has in fact evolved since the 1990s.

Some defended the post, with one Facebook user writing:

Lighten up people. Everyone is so serious

The department explained that the picture was intended as a joke in the comments:

This is just a joke picture we made up in MS Paint, so we are still fully marked.

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