Before the trending hashtag #HotCop swept police departments around the nation, School Resource Officer George Conklin already carried the moniker from his days working at York High School.
“Since then he’s been known as the ‘hot cop,’” said York-Poquoson Sheriff’s Office Spokeswoman Shelley Ward.
Conklin and his fellow deputy Brett Schultz posed for a selfie Friday as part of an internet sensation that began after Florida’s Gainesville Police Department posted a picture of three officers taking a selfie as they were preparing to work during Hurricane Irma.
The selfie quickly went viral, garnering thousands of shares and copycat selfie campaigns throughout the nation — including York County.
“Gainesville Police Department doesn’t have anything on York County’s ‘finest’!” read the YPSO post.
The trend spawned its own hashtag: #HotCops, with police departments, sheriff’s offices and even firefighters across the country getting in on the action. The YPSO photo was shared more than 100 times in the two hours after it was posted.
“We support Gainesville and our community seems to love the fun posts we do,” Ward said. “Apparently they are loving this and they’re sharing it like crazy. It’s more for our community.”
While the sheriff’s office in York County posted in fun on Friday, Florida’s trendsetting police department has now suspended “hot cop” Officer Michael Hamill following an investigation after “several citizens” identified anti-Semitic jokes Hamill made on Facebook years before joining the force, the Gainesville Sun reports.
“The Gainesville Police Department prides itself with our philosophy and mission of compassion, inclusion, and respect and will fully review the matter,” the department wrote on Facebook.
