Wikipedia page has an issue with Coeur d'Alene police

COEUR d'ALENE - When Dan Gookin took a look at Wikipedia's page on Coeur d'Alene Wednesday to see the latest it had on the Lake City, he was greeted by this headline:

"HOME OF POLICE WHOM GIVE OUT RANDOM TICKETS BECAUSE THEY ARE BORED."

The Coeur d'Alene man had to laugh when he read that statement in big, bold letters on Wednesday.

"I just thought it was funny," he said.

Twenty minutes later, it was gone, the page back to normal. Another victim of an editor making a correction.

"That didn't take long," he said.

Gookin said while Wikipedia can provide accurate, up-to-date information, it can also be edited pretty much by anyone with a computer.

"That's been one of the problems, people posting stuff that's not accurate," he said.

He guessed it was posted by a person who has had problems with Coeur d'Alene's finest.

Gookin said something similar happened to his entry in Wikipedia when someone wrote, "If you like Dan's books, here's where you can get them free on the Internet."

Gookin quickly changed that one, but he said such incorrect postings on Wikipedia, often for political reasons, have become part of today's landscape.

"That's what we live with," he said.

At least it leaves us laughing.