More important things than landmines to worry about in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, eh?
A viral video shows an officer from the Fond du Lac Police Department scolding a group of magnet fisherman for calling the police after finding what they say appears to be a landmine while out treasure hunting in the waters.
The video, which was originally posted in 2021 but is making its rounds again, shows officer Bethany Dolan telling the men that it “obviously didn’t go off” as they were pulling the object out of the lake, before putting it back in water to ensure that it didn’t dry out and detonate.
Dolan then asks the men how they can say for sure that it’s a bomb, other than the fact that it’s a similar shape.
I mean, if I find something in the shape of a landmine, that I think could be a landmine, I’m not gonna just assume that it’s not a landmine. But that’s just me.
The men tell Dolan that they can’t say for sure, and that’s why the device would need to be checked out for a bomb squad. But apparently the bomb squad has better things to do than…investigating bombs?
Dolan tells the fishermen:
“Ok but the bomb squad has a lot of things that they’ve gotta do guys.”
The guys tell her that they’ve found explosives before while magnet fishing, and in those cases they’ve called the police who responded and safely detonated the objects. But apparently Dolan doesn’t want to be bothered with silly things like landmines:
“I understand, but you’re taking our resources away from the city of Fond du Lac every single time you guys do this.”
I mean is there a serial killer on the loose in Fond du Lac or something that the police department’s tied up trying to catch? Isn’t it their job to keep the public safe? And wouldn’t investigating a potential landmine be part of keeping the public safe?
But anyway, it seems that when the video was first released there was quite the outcry about the officer’s response, and the police department issued a response now that their officer has gone viral once again:
“It appears the video from September 2021 is recently being reshared in several platforms causing it to go viral again.
Please be assured that we desire to provide the best police services to the city. We assure you this Department does not tolerate such conduct and that the appropriate corrective actions have already been taken.”
Do they even have the resources to take the “appropriate corrective actions?” If they can’t be bothered with things like landmines the department must be stretched pretty thin.
