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Portsmouth Police Department #HugACop Facebook challenge goes viral

Posted at 5:13 PM, Jul 16, 2016
and last updated 2016-07-16 17:13:31-04

PORTSMOUTH, Va. – A Facebook post challenging citizens to hug police officers has gone viral.

The challenge started when a 5-year-old boy named Gabe was playing Pokemon Go around his neighborhood. Gabe thought that two Portsmouth Police officers looked like they needed a hug and hugged both of them.

Gabe’s mom, Tosha, snapped a picture of the hug and it went viral, with over 1,700 shares and nearly 4,000 likes on Facebook.

Tosha and Gabe have challenged the department to post the pictures using the hashtag “HugACop” and continue to post pictures of officers hugging citizens for a week.

“The Portsmouth Police Department cares about our citizens and wants to provide the best and most professional customer service possible. Our goal is to protect, serve, and enhance the quality of life for all of our citizens,” the department said on their Facebook page. “Now we are challenging all police departments to post a picture each day of an officer and a citizen they protect and serve using the hashtag!”

If you would like to share your #HugACop pictures, you can send the photo to the department where the officer works. You may also send the photo to the Portsmouth Police Department page.