Words by

Andie Sophia Fontaine

Photo by

Birgir Örn "Biggi the Cop" Guðjónsson

Social media figure Biggi the Cop has announced he will stop engaging with videos and statuses on Facebook, and will focus solely on police work.

Birgir Örn Guðjónsson – or, as he has been known to the Icelandic public for the past two years, Biggi lögga (“Biggi the Cop”) – announced just hours ago that he would no longer be posting videos or making social commentary on Facebook. Instead, he will focus on his primary job of being a police officer. The decision, he said, came after thinking long and hard about the role of the police, and his own participation with the general public.

“I’ve thought it over carefully, and came to the conclusion that I should put ‘Biggi the cop’ aside,” he wrote in part. “I will stop posting on the Biggi the Cop Facebook page and Snapchat, and will change my Twitter account. I intend to spend the next week or so thinking about my next move.

“I appreciate police work, and have continuously thought about what we can do to make our society better. I am all the same unsure if what I intended to do worked, and I think it is unfortunately not worth it to continue down this path.”

The decision comes just days after lawyer Sveinn Andri Sveinsson objected to one of Birgir’s Facebook posts about a recent gang rape acquittal, with the lawyer formally submitting a request to the police to have Birgir fired or put on foot patrol.

Biggi the Cop’s Facebook posts have sometimes been playful and fun. His social media fame led to him writing columns for some of the country’s major newspapers. Some of these columns have been controversial, especially with regards to his criticisms of the Free The Nipple campaign, and his belief that foreigners should have limited privacy rights.

However, he has also made videos about police work and police concerns. This includes sending out a sorely-needed advisory to his fellow Icelanders about how to use a turn signal, which you can watch below (in Icelandic).