By Alaina Thompson
REXBURG – To most, Rexburg is a quiet, peaceful town. With its slogan, “America’s Family Community,” it’s easy to picture a happy, uneventful residence for its residents. However, a lot goes on behind the scenes that citizens never see.
The Rexburg Police Department is ever vigilant in keeping community members safe. One way they help spread awareness is through their social media platforms, specifically their pages on Facebook and Instagram. While it is imperative that some posts get out quickly for community awareness, others have become well-known for using humor to help draw in viewers.
A recent post illustrates this sense of humor. Accompanying a photo of the comical scene, the caption reads: “Officers are currently in a standoff with an escaped cow… We always like to make fun of deputies for wrangling cows, but we find ourselves udderly unprepared now that a cow is loose in the city… Just know that if you see us sponsoring officers at the next rodeo, we’ve been practicing.”
Officer Jaeckel is the main voice behind these posts. “There’re ones that are time-sensitive, which are pretty cut and dry. We want to make sure we’re not delaying the post to think of puns,” he says with a chuckle. In regard to balancing seriousness and humor, he adds, “If there’s any risk to the public or anyone specific… we try to avoid anything that will hurt people’s feelings or make light of a dangerous situation. But there are other ones where it’s just informational and no one is going to care about this unless we can sneak in some kind of pun or joke.”
Though some of their posts can’t help but be funny, there are serious benefits to the department’s social media. “We had a missing child and were able to post that information,” Jaeckel says. “The social media post is the reason why somebody saw the kid… and contacted us. There’s been a lot of stories like that honestly, but it’s pretty easy to see that [using social media] is worth doing.”
When asked what he wished citizens understood about the department and police work, Jaeckel shared that he wishes residents understood how much goes on behind the scenes. “It’s a balance of being transparent, telling people stuff… but we deal with a lot of [serious things] and a lot of people here would have no idea.”
Despite how everyday residents perceive Rexburg, it’s anything but a sleepy town. The police force works tirelessly, often unable to share details about specific cases, to keep Rexburg and the surrounding area safe from under-recognized dangers and hazards.
Whether they’re sharing urgent updates or slipping in a well-timed pun, the Rexburg Police Department has found a way to connect with the community while carrying out the serious work of keeping it safe. Their posts may bring a smile, but behind each one is a department working long, difficult hours to protect the people who call Rexburg home.
