Policing the Feed: Why Officers Must Govern Themselves Online
How officers’ off-duty online behavior is collapsing prosecutions, inflating settlements, and eroding public trust in policing.
When We Should Be Winning
Law enforcement is losing when we should be winning. The off-duty online misconduct is wrecking cases and staining reputations. I was just about to weigh in on a million-dollar settlement for an officer involved shooting from five years ago, but my research revealed that officer was arrested for possession of child pornography a year ago. While I was primed to defend the cop, I suddenly understood that this seven-figure payment was the sound economic decision for the agency.
The consequences impact every member of that agency too. When the white flag is waved, especially in a racially charged shooting that took place 75 days after the in-custody death of George Floyd, it paints the whole profession as being as shady as the activists claim, especially to those predisposed to questioning any police action. Despite the agency getting off financially cheap, local and national media will forever regard this shooting as a questionable or inappropriate shooting. No one will remember that the suspect was in possession of a loaded stolen firearm while on pre-trial release for a recent arrest for possession of a loaded stolen firearm. They won’t remember that the gun slid forward of the suspect’s right hand at a 45-degree angle where he landed.
Digital Footprints and Public Perception
Most cases of online misconduct are not related to criminal child pornography, but this illustrates how even four years after the officer involved shooting, it can and will affect cases. The early days of the Internet are over. In the early 80s there were just a few CompuServe users back then, and the architects of the World Wide Web were still hard at work making something that didn’t exist beyond list servers and bulletin boards. Today, we are recruiting officers who have never lived in a world where they couldn’t order a pizza easily on their phone.
Former Trooper Michael Proctor lost all his credibility in the Karen Read case and was fired based on his thousands of text messages that contained offensive and inappropriate language going back a dozen years. He just abandoned his appeal to get his job back with the Massachusetts State Police. CBS National News reports:
‘Stephen Carley, representing Massachusetts State Police, used Proctor’s own words to make the case that the veteran trooper deserved to be fired.
“Distasteful. Unprofessional. Inappropriate. In poor taste. Juvenile. Sexist. Disgusting. Dehumanizing. This selection of words does not come from a public comment section on a website, an op-ed columnist, or a protester outside the Norfolk County courthouse. These words are Michael Proctor’s accounting of his own conduct in this case,” Carley said during the hearing.’
When Context Becomes the Scandal
Around 2021, the Oakland (California) Police Department was ‘embroiled’ in a social media scandal regarding an account on the Meta platform Instagram. While the department was under federal monitoring, the discovery of the ‘crime reduction team’ Insta account resulted in a six-month investigation by a law firm that clearly had their conclusions established from day one. It reeks of a consent decree scheme to overbill. The article that appears in the Bay Area Fox affiliate KTVU notes the frustration of the firm in their report where there were memes alluding to some coworkers using sex in hopes of promotion or depictions of ‘Latinos as gang members’ that few found anything offensive about the posted content. The news report states:
“In fact, some officers continued to insist that there was nothing troubling about offensive memes from the page, the firm noted. Other officers “improbably” claimed they did not understand the memes well enough to say whether they were offensive or not. And still others, the firm noted, “doubled down” that the memes were not offensive.”
From the detailed descriptions of the memes, I speculate that it would take a pretty big payment promise from federal consent decree monitor before any reasonable person could even feign distress with a straight face. However, this example serves as a lesson that you need to consider the climate where you are before engaging publicly. One of the key elements in the Oakland case was that 140 city phones were confiscated and examined. But before you fall in the trap of thinking that you are safe on your personal phone, when you contribute to accounts or online groups that may be examined, your device may get pulled into the gravity field. Once it’s in the Faraday room, it is gone.
Leading Yourself Before Leading Others
If you know you are at risk for being charged for possession of child pornography or worse, take off the badge and get some help. I don’t know what is worse, you getting caught with it or making it through your career without being busted. Either way it is bad news for you and your co-workers and you are always going to be on the edge of jeopardy.
Those who don’t have an illegal porn problem need to determine how you must lead yourself. The wise option exists - to look at every email, text, and social media post and question whether you will be proud to see or explain it in the future. Choose wisely regardless of whether it is public or private content. Nearly every day in the media, we see leaked emails and texts; communications that were intended to remain private.
Integrity in the digital age isn’t about staying silent; it’s about staying clean.
Please keep all law enforcement officers in your prayers.
Roland Clee served a major Florida police department as a Community Service Officer for more than 26 years. His career included uniformed patrol, training, media relations, intelligence, criminal investigations, and chief’s staff. He writes the American Peace Officer newsletter, speaks at public safety, recruiting and leadership conferences and helps local governments and public safety agencies through his business, CommandStaffConsulting.com.
For media interviews and podcast appearances, click here: http://bit.ly/40pT3NS
References
https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/michael-proctor-karen-read-massachusetts-state-police-appeal/
As always a unique and importing angle. Staying clean to save the country.
Well done! I'm disgusted that someone like that first officer you described works in LE! Thank goodness you have the state of mind to do thorough research.