Police in Kirklees who seized illegal off-road bikes in a crackdown also tackled the lawbreakers on Facebook.
The Batley and Spen Neighbourhood Policing Team posted about the success of Operation Thricelake on its Facebook page.
But critics – some of them off-road bikers – took the police to task with threats and abuse, forcing the NPT to delete some posts.
The Examiner previously reported how police had launched a crackdown in the Batley, Birstall and Fieldhead areas in response to complaints from the public.
The operation will last throughout April but in the first two days two bikes were seized, three people were reported for court action and five warnings were issued.
Police also said another bike was seized in Jessop Park at Healey after seven youths were seen taking it in turns to ride it.
Some bikers went on the Facebook page to criticise police prompting an extraordinary warning from officers.
An officer wrote: “I can’t believe this has to be said but here we go! In case the title of the page didn’t give it away, this is a monitored page by the POLICE, it is a forum for adult discussion on work we are doing within our community, for our community and at the request of our community.
“Name calling, threats (either direct or indirect), harassment and intimidation of people making reports and general acting like a plonker will not be tolerated.
“I have had to remove a number of posts, and will continue to monitor future posts. Please think about what you are typing and the audience that can see it or you may find yourself receiving a visit from a couple of our fine officers.
“Finally, Operation Thricelake has been organised in response to complaints from the public, not just about off road bikes on public fields but also those that think it is “fun” to ride on public roads, through red lights, onto oncoming traffic or any other actions that place them against the law and make them a risk and nuisance to the general public and other road users.
“To those people, if the solution for you is as simple as ‘I’ll just buy another bike’ then so be it. We will be happy to come and crush that one for you when you take it out on a public road.
“The language that has been used and threats could constitute a crime, please THINK about what you are commenting.
“If you don’t agree we would be happy to discuss it further at your local station. This is not about “picking on kids” it is about targeting those that break the law and create risks to others.”
Liam Milton replied: “More bothered about catching people having fun, rather than catching all the rapists and paedophiles that are on our streets!”
The officer responded: “People break the law in many different ways and we are bothered about enforcing all laws and protecting all the public. What you seem to class as “fun,” we do class as breaking the law.
“The difference is locally we do not publicise serious cases like those you have chosen to mention. Just because you don’t hear about it, doesn’t mean it’s not happening! All our officers deal with a wide range of crimes and reports on a daily basis.”
Johnny Collins hit back and said: “Why don’t you just let us have somewhere to ride instead of stealing our bikes from us?”
The officer replied: “You may be confusing us with garden force, as the police we are responsible for upholding the law, we are not currently in the business of running off road centres.”
