--- title: "Cops Post AI Slop Image Of “Drug Bust,” Then Lie and Say It’s Real When They’re Called Out" description: "AI slop has come for everything, including those cringey drug bust spreads that clueless cops love to post." date: "2025-07-02" modified: "2025-07-02" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/police-ai-slop-drug-bust" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "ai images" - "ai slop" - "drugs" - "police" --- # Cops Post AI Slop Image Of “Drug Bust,” Then Lie and Say It’s Real When They’re Called Out ![AI slop has come for everything, including those cringey drug bust spreads that clueless cops love to post.]() *\Image: Westbrook Police Department / Futurism\* AI slop has come for everything — including those [cringey drug bust spreads]() that clueless cops love to post. As Portland, Maine's [*WMTW* reports,]() police in the suburban city of Westbrook have apologized after not only posting an obviously AI-generated photo of a purported narcotics seizure, but also lying to the public about it. Over the weekend, the Westbrook Maine Police Department shared on Facebook the sloppy photo that featured, among other glaring AI tells, indecipherable text appearing on a drug scale, medication packet, and weed vape cartridge packages. Soon after the post went up, AI-literate Mainers called it for what it was, prompting the cops to double down and defend the obviously AI image as legit. "We want to set the record straight — this is NOT an AI-generated photo," the town's PD claimed in a follow-up to the initial post, both of which have since been deleted, per *WMTW*. "What you see is what was seized by officers during the course of the drug arrests. Is the packaging weird and look like gibberish or a different language? Yes. But that is legitimately what was located and seized by officers." "The packaging is most likely foreign," the cops continued, "and it is possible that whoever made the packaging used AI to make a clearly knock-off package." Within a few days, however, both the initial and followup post had been deleted, and Westbrook PD issued an apology and explanation. In a post featuring the AI-generated photo next to the original for comparison, the cops noted that the arresting officer in the drug bust — who was not named — used an AI tool to "add in our department patch." "Unbeknownst to anyone, when the app added the patch, it altered the packaging and some of the other attributes on the photograph," the apology post reads. "None of us caught it or realized it." As one [local resident told *WGME*](), another Portland-area news broadcaster, it's pretty shocking that the obviously altered photo was even tampered with in the first place, nevermind that it made it onto the department's Facebook page . "It makes me wonder how much people understand about technology," the concerned citizen said, "and how easy it is to fool people." That last part about ease of deception is, despite the hilarity of watching cops get pie on their faces, particularly salient. In this instance, the alteration was done by someone who clearly didn't know what they were doing, resulting not only in obvious AI tells — but also, ironically, some of the paraphernalia being removed from the image. Regardless of that AI-ignorant cop being in the wrong, their department doubled down in support — suggesting that when and if law enforcement gets better at digital evidence tampering, they will likely do the same. **More on AI slop:** [*"Indie Rock Band" That's Clearly Using AI Claims That "We Never Use AI"*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()