Police in Louisiana’s Acadia Parish have instituted a strict 9:00 pm to 6:00 am curfew, hoping to slow the spread of COVID-19, KATC News reports.
But the curfew suddenly seemed dystopian to residents when officers from the Crowley Police Department rode around the neighborhood blasting the siren used in “The Purge” film franchise to announce that it was time to go inside, according to ABC.
In “The Purge” horror film series, the alarm signals the beginning of an annual purge, a 12-hour period when all crime is legal, according to People magazine.
Many people were angry and terrified by the use of the siren, the New York Post reports. But others, like this TikTok user, seemed to find it funny.
Local police said they were unaware the sound they chose to announce the curfew was from the “Purge” films, and pledged that it would not be used again, according to Yahoo! News.
The Acadia Parish Sheriff’s Office said the decision to use the “Purge siren” came from the Crowley Police Department and that Acadia Parish enforcement were not involved. Hundreds of people commented, many cracking jokes, some offering support and others expressing concern and anger at the lack of awareness.