The discovery of racist publications on social networks of police triggers investigations

After comparing the published lists of employees with the Facebook profiles and reviewing the public publications of these people, the project resulted in the publication of thousands of publications and comments on Facebook, ranging from racist memes to conspiracy theories to violent manifestations of violence. Several have expressed the wish to use a Taser or lethal force on the suspects, actions that have allowed law enforcement agencies to be the subject of scrutiny in recent years and that sparked nationwide protests against police brutality.

"Instead of raising your hands, do not shoot, do not deprive yourself of pulling your pants!", Reads in a meme that describes the late African-American singer Sammy Davis Jr. digging the Black Lives Matter movement . The picture was shared on Facebook in 2015 by a captain of the Philadelphia Police Department.

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"What point of sale, shooting team," said a man identified by PVP as a Philadelphia police officer under reporting that a man shot an elderly woman.

"Too bad that this MF did not resist and that he experienced a very violent and painful disappearance. That would have spared the taxpayers a LOT of money, "reads Facebook by a man identified as a former officer in York, Pennsylvania, who shared the news of the arrest of a black man who killed a police inspector. police.

"We believe that these statements could undermine the confidence of civilians in the police," says the PVP website, "and we hope the police will investigate and treat them immediately."

Several departments whose agents were controlled by the project announced that they would do exactly that.

The mayor, the police commissioner and the Philadelphia attorney have all condemned these publications in comments to the Philadelphia Inquirer. Police Commissioner Richard Ross told the newspaper that he "would get to the bottom of things," indicating that seven police officers in Philadelphia were under investigation for their social media publications.

The Phoenix police chief, Jeri Williams, has described the posts of the agents of his department as "troublesome and disturbing" in a statement to the Fox TV channel 10. She stated that she had recently become aware of the database and that she had asked the professional standards bureau of the department to review the case. .

In St. Louis, Metropolitan Police spokeswoman Evita Caldwell told The Riverfront Times in an e-mail that the question "was forwarded to our home affairs division. [and] is being reviewed for any violation of our policies. "

The Plain View project also looked at the Dallas Police Service; Denison, Tex .; and Twin Falls, Idaho; and the Lake County Sheriff's Office in Florida. The Lake County Sheriff's Office informed Injustice Watch and BuzzFeed that he was investigating.

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Project founder Emily Baker-White told the Washington Post that she had seen alarming police publications on Facebook during a fellowship at the Federal Defender's office in Philadelphia. While working on a case of police brutality, she found several public Facebook pages, linked to agents involved in the case, containing memes and offensive messages.

An image appeared to him: a police dog, grinding his teeth, with a superimposed text saying: "I hope you run, he likes fast foods."

"I found this meme really alarming," she said. And because it was a meme, "it made me wonder how much more and more there is in it. How many other police officers publish such things on the Internet? "

With a second employee and about 12 researchers, Baker-White obtained lists of employees from eight departments chosen for their differences in size and geography. The group linked approximately 14,400 list agents to public profiles on Facebook. She was not able to find everyone, but the project eventually found and reviewed 3,500 profiles of former or former officers that could be verified using criteria including a matching name, pictures of the person in uniform, an employer on the list. the Facebook page, or the self-identification of a poster in messages or comments. Baker-White says that she personally made the final decision whether or not to include an individual in the database.

Baker-White said that three major trends had appeared in the publications she and her colleagues had collected: publications appearing to endorse the violence of agents or members of the public, publications appearing to show partiality to against minority groups and dehumanizing words referring to protesters or people. colored like "animals" or "wild".

"One of the most discouraging things in the articles we've seen are the comments they contain," Baker-White said. "Some are citizens, some police officers. There is a very strong culture where someone can say something violent and the people who are part of it will put it forward and say even more violence or discrimination. The feedback loop has led many people to rely on their worst instincts. "

She said she was pleased that the departments are responding to the Plain View project, but she wanted to see a substantial change.

"I hope the police will make changes to increase accountability," said Baker-White, "but also to try to change the culture."

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