Police and fire departments across the country are cracking down on officers for posting racist, violent memes and comments. But it’s not enough.
Dallas shooter Micah Johnson’s attacks towards law enforcement have incited a new wave of anti-Black Lives Matter declarations by former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani and others, who have called the group “inherently racist.” They believe BLM is, in part, to blame for the deaths of the five police officers.
Now many law enforcement officers and other civil servants have been reprimanded for making offensive and even threatening social media postings describing BLM activists as racists and terrorists. Individual officers have been demoted, suspended, or in few cases, fired, after community members reported posts to city officials.
The name of the patrol officer was not initially released by the South Carolina police department. It was only released after it spread via social media, a model Sergeant Michael Woody from the Detroit Police Department says was followed in the case of Detective Weekley.
As Sergeant Woody’s statement suggests, it is likely that there are far more incidents of this nature that have been reported. Though underreported, other inappropriate social media postings by law enforcement officers have come to light this week.
Derek Hale, a sergeant for Louisville Metro Corrections was suspended after sharing an abhorrent meme on Facebook featuring a white police officer and the words, “If we really wanted you dead all we’d have to do is stop patrolling your neighborhoods...and wait.” Two Memphis policemen were placed on suspension after one allegedly posted a Snapchat picture featuring a gun aimed at an emoji of a black man running.
Lieutenant R. Kelley Hughes, Communications Liaison for the South Carolina Department of Public Safety, told The Daily Beast that in addition to Captain Morris, another local fireman and a local paramedic were also discharged due to inappropriate or threatening social media statements related to the Columbia BLM protest.
Officer Rodney Lee Wilson of the Overland Park force in Kansas was also fired for threatening comments posted on Facebook. “We’ll see how much her life matters soon,” he commented on a photo that LaNaydra Williams of Dallas, Texas posted of her 5-year-old daughter, India, back in 2014. “Better be careful leaving your info open where she can be found :) Hold her close tonight it’ll be the last time [sic],” he wrote.
In light of these incidents, some police departments have developed specific social media policies for employees to follow. The Nashville Police Department’s policy on social media use urges employees to “act with respect and exercise common sense…do not engage in any online communications that could reflect negatively on the department or its members,” and includes a reminder that “existing rules of conduct” apply to social media usage.
Yet without specific protocols in place, it is likely to continue and many officers will keep expressing racist and/or violent views on social media without any disciplinary action. Overland Park Police Chief Francis Donchez Jr. fired Officer Wilson and posted a statement on the Police Department’s Facebook page, but did not identify Wilson by name.
Chief Donchez wrote that the department would “not tolerate any form of discrimination or threats” and that “possible disciplinary action for inappropriate behavior by staff members includes several steps including termination of employment.” He did not specify whether charges would be brought against Wilson, or if the department would adopt new policies to prevent against similar social media attacks in the future.