Here's something you might not have thought of: Words last forever on the Internet. So do opinions, articles, mistakes and rants. As you do your daily web surfing, check out the dates on the web pages you're reviewing. You will see that many are years old. That means the content of those pages can be old also.
Why does this matter? Well, have you ever said something to someone, and immediately wished that you could take it back? The Internet is like that. Once you post something on-line, you should assume that it will be there for eternity. Of course, if you edit or delete something you have posted, that removes the source. However, depending on how long your words were on-line, it's likely that they were cached, or repeated in a reference file. If you delete your original post, the cached copies will remain.
Try this experiment: Go to any on-line police article (here at officer.com, or elsewhere), and look at the comments posted following the article. Most of the time those comments are pretty mundane, especially if the article is of a non-controversial nature. In fact, they can often be informative and valuable. However, it won't be long before you see comments that are strident and argumentative. This is especially true if the article - or sometimes other comments - has any negative slant on law enforcement.
Why is this a problem?
It's very easy to make yourself heard on-line. Prior to the Internet age, in order to get your opinions in front of a mass audience, you had to write a letter to the editor. Even then, only a few letters were ever published, so yours might never see the light of day. While that could be frustrating, especially if you felt passionate about an issue, it also meant that it was far less likely that intemperate or reckless thoughts would find their way into mass distribution. In effect, the slowness of publication, coupled with the fact that most periodicals are monthly or quarterly in nature, provided a safety valve for your rants. Additionally, if what you wrote was too far over the line, there was an actual editor at the magazine or newspaper that could serve as a safety filter.
Now things are different. The ease with which each of us can access web content means that we can easily and quickly post our thoughts on-line, either as our own article or as comments following someone else’s work. When other readers see our comments, they might immediately respond, and we can then - almost in real-time - strike back with our counter-argument. In effect, we can have an on-line argument with multiple adversaries, in front of the whole world. Sometimes these flame wars can get pretty wild. And those comments might be floating around out there in the Internet cloud forever.
For the average person, this might not be a big deal. But as police professionals, our passionate, inappropriate or thoughtless comments can have a serious impact. Words that we exchange on-line can be gleaned with search engines, and can come back to haunt us. This is especially true if we are writing or commenting on controversial, work-related topics, such as use of force or arrest procedures.
It's all in public view
You might think that the kinds of comments and writings that I'm talking about aren't really a problem because you're leaving comments on police-only message boards, and therefore your words won't be seen by non-police types. In general, there may be some truth to that. However, some search engines can cruise those private areas of the web. It's also possible that someone will copy your writings and paste them onto a public area. Finally, keep in mind that many law enforcement websites and discussion pages are open to public viewing. Many times it might seem that the page you're posting to is limited to police officers, when in fact it's open to anyone that surfs past.
Even if you post under a pseudonym, you can still do serious damage. It's possible that a determined investigator could track you down by using readily available research tools. Even if you don't get tracked down, your negative or inappropriate comments can contribute to the overall negative impression that members of the public get regarding police officers.
I came across a typical situation a few days ago. Someone had written an article that was critical of some of the attitudes expressed by some members of our profession. It was a good article, and it made some thought-provoking points. However, some of the comments that were left by readers were very negative, and defensive. As the discussion went on, some of the comments defended the author of the article, which caused other commenters to react, and so on. Eventually - as so often happens in these cases - commenters began arguing with each other over various points in the comments, almost losing sight of the original article's issues.
Eventually, members of the public began commenting about the article, and about the points that the other readers were making. That led to some of the non-police readers making comments that were negative toward the police attitudes that were being posted. As this situation deteriorated, the rhetoric got more and more twisted and negative. In the end, it appeared that a lot of readers came away with negative impressions of each other.
The idea that an article can stir up controversy is actually a good thing. It creates an environment wherein people from different walks of life can interact, and can exchange views on important issues. However, the nature of the Internet is such that many people are emboldened to say things that, given time to think about it, they might not want to say for the record. Much of the face-to-face civility that controls our daily interpersonal encounters seems to fade away in the web's anonymity. When that happens, all that is left is rancor and negativity.
That rancor and negativity can be surfed and downloaded by those that might find nefarious ways to use it - like in court, for example. Our opinions and rants create a cloud of information that can be beneficial in the right hands, used in the right way. In the wrong hands - like those of a plaintiff's attorney - they can be costly and embarrassing.
Stay safe, and wear your vest!
