'Don't make me tell your parents you're dead': Police post goes viral

A US police department's powerful message has gone viral on Facebook. Photo / Facebook

A Facebook post by police in the US has gone viral, with people all over the globe, including in New Zealand, sharing the officers' plea for people to take care on the roads.

The post reminds people that, when there is a fatality on the road, a police officer has to deliver the tragic news to the deceased person's family.

"I'll look at your Facebook profile before I tell your mother you're dead," the post reads.

"It kind of keeps me human. You see, I'm about to change their lives; your mum and dad, that is. In about five minutes, they will never be the same, they will never be happy again. Right now, to be honest, you're just a nameless dead body that feels like a wet bag of newspapers that we have been pounding on, sticking IV lines and tubes and needles in, trying desperately to save you. There's no motion, no life, nothing to tell me you once had dreams or aspirations. I owe it to them to learn just a bit about you before I go in," it continues.

"Because right now ... all I am is mad at you, for what you did to yourself and what you are about to do to them.

"I know nothing about you. I owe it to your mum to peek inside of your once-living world.

The post, by the Burlington Police Department, in Indiana in the US, touched people all over the world.

"Maybe it was just your time, but chances are ... it wasn't.

With every paragraph, the post gets more personal and points out how every fatality is someone just like you, who enjoyed life right up until the moment it all came to an end.

"So I pick up your faded picture of your driver's licence and click on my iPhone, flip to Facebook and search your name. Chances are we'll have one mutual friend somewhere. I know a lot of people," it continues.

"I see you wearing the same necklace and earrings that now sit in a specimen cup on the counter, the same ball cap or jacket that has been split open with trauma scissors and pulled under the backboard, the lining stained with blood. Looks like you were wearing it to the U2 concert. I heard it was great.

"I see your smile, how it should be, the color of eyes when they are filled with life, your time on the beach, blowing out candles, Christmas at Grandma's; oh you have a Maltese, too. I see that. I see you standing with your mom and dad in front of the sign to your college. Good, I'll know exactly who they are when I walk into the room. It makes it that much easier for me, one less question I need to ask."

The post continues, describing the harrowing moment a family receives the bad news.

"You're kind of lucky that you don't have to see it. Dad screaming your name over and over, mum pulling her hair out, curled up on the floor with her hand over her head as if she's trying to protect herself from unseen blows.

"I check your Facebook page before I tell them you're dead because it reminds me that I am talking about a person, someone they love; it quiets the voice in my head that is screaming at you right now shouting: 'How could you do this to them, to people you are supposed to love!'"

Posted only a couple of weeks ago, the post has had more than 27,000 reactions and been shared more than 80,000 times across Facebook, including numerous local groups in New Zealand, as a powerful reminder to keep loved ones in mind when out on the road.