Female Off-Duty Police Officer Takes Down Robber
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It sounds like the set-up to a classic joke: An off-duty female Swedish police officer in a bikini realizes her friend is being robbed. But there's no punchline, only the image of justice being served as the officer pins him to the ground.
Unfortunately, there's always someone on the internet who tries to ruin it for everyone, and this is no exception.
What happened?
Mikaela Kellner was sunbathing with her friends when a man tried to steal one of their cell phones, according to BBC News. On her well-liked Instagram photo, Kellner explains (through the magic of Google translate) that she's been on the force for 11 years and this is her first time ever intervening while wearing a bikini:
My initial intervention while wearing a bikini during my 11 years as police !! Pretty fun and pleasant , I must say ๐๐ ! Beware of pickpockets , keep track of your valuables !!
She told the Aftonbladet (a Swedish newspaper) that she would have taken him down "even if she were naked" saying, "There was no time, so I ran after him, maybe 15 metres or so."
While many comments on the photo are positive, there are a few terrible ones.
Many are praising Kellner for her actions.
Mikaela Kellner/Instagram - instagram.com
Some are even drawing parallels between Kellner's badassery and Hillary Clinton's:
Mikaela Kellner/Instagram - instagram.com
But then, there are comments like these:
Mikaela Kellner/Instagram - instagram.com
Mikaela Kellner/Instagram - instagram.com
Mikaela Kellner/Instagram - instagram.com
And here's the problem with those comments.
They might be "just jokes" but even if that's true, that doesn't make it OK. Because comments like "I have been a bad boy Ms. Officer" minimize Kellner's worth and accomplishments by turning them into a sexual fantasy for someone else.
Women already deal with gender inequality in the workplace, and many female police officers experience sexual harassment from their own colleagues. More than half of female officers experienced sexual harassment in police departments in Britain, Australia, and the U.S., according to a 2008 survey by Law Enforcement Learning.
Yes, it is definitely unusual to see a police officer tackle someone in a bikini. But just because she's wearing a bikini definitely doesn't mean she would hold back her strength.
[H/T BBC]