Watch Your Words

Nov. 19, 2014
Cops keep getting in trouble for online postings. We need to knock it off. We need to demand higher standards and greater accountability from each other. And we need to finally realize, culture-wide, how we appear to others...

On February 4th, 2014, Facebook turned 10 years old.  Initially limited only to students of Harvard University, it began gradually expanding its reach to other universities, then high schools, until eventually capturing worldwide attention.  Far removed from being the province of the young academic set, Facebook users now span the globe representing people of all demographics.  Worldwide, there are more than 1.3 billion Facebook users.  That means more than 1 in every 6 human beings on the planet today has a Facebook page.  In our community even Scott H, a homeless, perpetually protesting gadfly who lives in a tent on the outskirts of the city, is on Facebook; he doesn’t have a house, but he has Facebook, several thousand “friends,” and 212 followers.  And, according to his profile, a girlfriend.

While there are many other social media platforms that have come before and since, none match the reach and popularity of Facebook or offer its unprecedented and ever-expanding opportunities for connectivity.  1.3 billion people each have a unique profile, the ability to share themselves and their thoughts with “friends”, whether real or virtual, as only the internet can redefine friendship, and the possibility of those thoughts going viral should they be deemed profound enough, funny enough, thought-provoking enough, or controversial enough to deserve the attention of up to several million people. 

Cops are well-represented on Facebook and other social media.  Like anyone else, it’s natural that we in the law enforcement family are drawn to enhanced connectivity with family and friends both old and new, the vast sea of information that we’d likely never tap on our own without the easy accessibility and web of eyes and ears scouring traditional and internet-based media and sharing what is found, and how all of it taps into our brains’ pleasure centers.  Social media has changed the way we think about and relate to the world.  Some argue it acts on us as a real evolutionary force, actually influencing the function – and potentially even the structure – of our brains going forward.  Social media has had a revolutionary effect on the human species in the developed world and, like most revolutions, whether its effects are for good or ill is a matter of debate. 

For all the ways it has brought people together – reuniting old friends and extended family, establishing social links, providing more than a billion people access to unprecedented amounts of information and knowledge (whether reliable or not, as it seems a lot of people still struggle mightily with the vetting process) – social media can also be the wedge that divides.  On a platform of such reach and permanence, sharp or impolitic words can turn old friends into bitter enemies, estrange family members, and shame their author who didn’t stop and consider their impact before hitting “Send.”  They can derail careers and make lasting pariahs of the momentarily imprudent.  And, in the world of law enforcement, they can shatter trust and goodwill under the mistaken belief that free speech, as envisioned and supported constitutionally, somehow means speech unencumbered by any consequences; just because no one is going to come and lock us up for the words we type and send forth doesn’t mean our family, friends, or employers are going to put up with them, even if our employers happen to be the government.

A quick search of the web for instances of police officers disciplined or fired over social media postings is revealing; cops have come under increasing fire for what they post online, police departments have become increasingly less tolerant of what they allow, and the decisions of arbitrators and courts are generally falling on the side of employers in cases where officers challenge discipline.  This is true even where the posts are seemingly innocuous musings, hardly provocative in the police world but deemed potentially incendiary to those on the outside.  Ferguson, MO has produced a number of such controversies, even hundreds of miles away and posted by cops who’ve never stepped foot in Missouri, know not a single brother or sister officer there, or even have any greater knowledge of what happened than does anyone else.  So have other high-profile events, officer involved shootings, and trends in and affecting law enforcement. 

On a smaller scale, cops are now routinely taking discipline for commentary with much more local reach, having offended citizens, colleagues, bosses, or the powers-that-be in their own small worlds.  Most of us know, or know of, an officer who has been called to the carpet, taken a reprimand or days off, or even been shoved out of law enforcement because they forgot to filter their online words.  Increasingly restrictive policies are being written, affecting all from the indiscretions of the few, and creating a nervous online culture among more prudent cops while the less prudent just seem to type on undeterred, catching more and more heat for themselves and everyone else!

We need to knock it off.  We need to demand higher standards and greater accountability from each other.  And we need to finally realize, culture-wide, how we appear to others on the outside of our police world and how venting our frustrations online reflects on the law enforcement profession as a whole.

We’re not talking about anyone’s First Amendment Rights.  There are plenty of attorneys and legal scholars more knowledgeable than us who’ve produced excellent and informative articles addressing how the First Amendment applies, and where it doesn’t, on this and other websites and publications.  Cases will continue to be argued, discipline challenged and decided via arbitration and lawsuit, and policies clarified to provide guidance – and resultant decisions in favor of employers will almost certainly be ignored by some cop, somewhere, to perpetuate the ongoing problem.  Remember, there are limits to free speech rights, including limits imposed by employers – even when the employer happens to be the government – that will never lead to prosecution but certainly carry other serious consequences.  Do you really want your name to pop up on a Google search for “Police Officers Disciplined for Inappropriate Facebook Posts” 

What we are talking about is twofold:  First, how to stay out of trouble personally and professionally and, second, understanding the impact of your words on yourself, your department, your profession, and your brother and sister officers everywhere. 

When the fact that the overwhelming majority of cops are trustworthy and honorable needs to be emphasized in a time of increased scrutiny – with an inordinate focus on real or perceived wrongdoing – impulsive, angry, sarcastic, or insensitive social media posts become the default voice of the “out-of-touch, out-of-control, power-hungry cops” police detractors want to portray.  Every time ignorance is met with anger, the anger is what’s remembered; those who agree with the ignorance are equally misinformed so an angry retort merely reinforces their belief system.  Whenever we reinforce the stereotype of the “jackbooted thug” or misanthropic cop, even if done in not-obvious-enough jest, we fuel the haters’ fire.  When we allow ourselves or our peers to post what could be construed as racist, sexist, ageist, or other biased comments we become part of the bigger problem.

With all the internet has given it has also shrunk the world around us.  No longer can we assume our anonymity when only a few degrees of separation and a keystroke or two separate nearly all of us.  Perhaps Andy Warhol was right when he (or someone, because a mere 30 second internet search cast doubt on the quotes origin and meaning) said, “"In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes." 

Maybe the shelf-life of fame for the masses is a mere fifteen minutes, but that of infamy will certainly be much longer.  Whaddaya think, maybe we should all try to avoid that, shall we?

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