For some, it's a cheeky reaction to the rampant problem of bike thefts in London, Ont., and a high-five to an officer who made an arrest.

For others, it's an officer of the law abusing his power and showing off a suspect before he has been convicted of any crime.

The tweet, posted May 17 by Sgt. Mike Potruff, who heads the London police foot patrol division, has had mixed reaction on social media, and has started a discussion about how officers use their professional accounts.

This tweet by Sgt. Mike Potruff was posted May 17 and has stirred controversy. (Twitter)

"We're very much in the early stages, in the wild west of social communication and social media, and police just like everyone else is learning as we go along," said Joe Couto, the director of government relations and communications for the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police.

Sometimes they get it bang on, and sometimes the results aren't what they intended them to be." - Joe Couto, Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police

Couto teaches officers about the basics of media, communication and social media.

"We try to emphasize that you're always a police officer first, and when you're communicating, whether to the media or through the media to different audiences, we want to project our core values as police, in terms of professionalism and service and the doing of duty."

Reaction to photo mixed

Reactions to the Tweet and photo, which shows a red angry-face emoji over the suspect's face, were mixed.

"Good. Shame the hell out of bike thieves. Had my bike stolen nearly 10 years ago. Never was able to afford a replacement," wrote Old Irish Cyclist on Twitter.

"This is trashy and police should have more integrity than to be engaging in such childish social media behaviour," wrote Twitter user Keekstuhh.

On Facebook, Julia Creech Elliot wrote "Not cool. Our country has a judicial system that says you are innocent until proven guilty. Too many people have had their faces ruined by false arrest ... not a good precedent for shaming other accused persons."

But Bethany Payne disagrees: "As a victim of bike theft, I think that this photo is awesome ... it shows that London police do care about small crimes too."

Striking a balance

Although he didn't have to, Potruff asked for approval before posting the picture, said Roxanne Beaubien, London police manager of corporate communications and media relations.

"I thought about whether we should put it up or not," she said. "The face was covered up and in this case, I thought it was okay. It's always a balance of providing information, showing our officers doing their job, and treating what some might see as a less serious crime as serious as others.

Seems unprofessional. Reminiscent of a trophy hunter photo. —@mikeperovich

"There's been mixed reaction to it, and that sometimes happens with social media. It's a lesson learned."

On Wednesday afternoon, the tweet was removed from Twitter.

Police officers have to learn to strike a balance between showing themselves doing their jobs and risking offending the public, Couto said.

"It's a struggle to get a right balance," he said. "I think the intent was to educate and show the community that it's getting what it wants (in terms of arrests. But obviously some people will take it in a way that they didn't mean. That's what you get, especially with social media."

Beaubien agreed.

"Different communities have a certain amount of tolerance to what they find amusing or offensive. We have to figure out what that balance is, and for some people we went over the line in this particular case. We will take that into account when we're looking at future posts," she said.

Here's what Facebook user Tania Davis wrote: "Personally, I found the photo kinda funny. Professionally, I think it was in poor taste."