A group of white police officers has come under fire after they posed for a photo with the suspect they had arrested.
The photo shows officers from the Prentiss Police Department in Mississippi and their police dogs posing with a robbery suspect, Eric Boykin.
The man was captured in a wooded area 600 yards away from the Hancock Bank, according to US news outlet ABC / CBS affiliate WLOX.
The search involved numerous agencies including the FBI, Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, the Louisiana State Prison System K9 team, Columbia Police Department, the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department, ATF, and the Mississippi Department of Corrections.
The photo quickly sparked an outcry on social media, with internet users saying they couldn’t believe their eyes.
US criminal Justice system reporter Josie Duffy Rice took to Twitter and wrote: “So either 1) none of the people involved, from the officers to the news station to the staffer who posted this, realized what a bad look this is or 2) they do know how it looks, and that’s why they posted it.
“Those are the only two possibilities! and they are both very very bad.”
Another Twitter user said that the photo shows the need for reform, writing: “This type of behavior is why police reform is absolutely necessary! These people have no sense of humanity!”
A person claiming to be in law enforcement said: “You just simply don’t do that! There is no need to take a picture like that period! Very unprofessional. I’m in law enforcement and this makes us look bad!”
Someone else wrote: “I am sitting here in utter disbelief. NO WORDS.”
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