KATV Channel 7 - The Spirit of Arkansas: Facebook Faker Sought By Earle Police

The page has contained a number of provocative posts criticizing the department and city officials over their decision to cut the chief's position from the budget.

Mayor Otis Davis said the page was not authorized by him or the city council and does not represent the Earle Police Department.

"I don't know how it got there," Davis said. "That's not an official page for the department."

Davis said whoever created the page has been using it to stoke controversy in Earle.

Among the many comments posted, the page listed private cell phone numbers of city officials urging residents to complain to their council members about the budget.

"Putting people's private numbers - that's just stupid," said councilwoman Carolyn Jones.

Eric Cox, chairman of the city's police committee, called the page's creator cowardly.

"To me, that's the purest form of being a coward that you can possibly be because if you have a complaint or concern, it is so easy to come and address it," Cox said. "I think something ought to be done about the citizen because whoever started the Earle Police Department page had no authority to do so."

Davis said while he is not against the idea of the police department having a Facebook page, his biggest concerns are the motives behind the Facebook page and the unauthorized use of the city's name.

"Do I have a problem with Facebook? No, I don't," Davis said. "But I have a problem with the way the page was put up. I think they were using it to criticize us and add a lot of controversy."

Davis said he plans to get to the bottom of whoever is responsible and may even prosecute.

"Who did it? You get a lot of names," Davis said. "We'll probably never get to the bottom of it. But I want it removed. I'm not trying to put somebody in jail. But I want them to know that you can't go around using the city's name without authority. It doesn't have a thing to do with the city and I don't think that is right."