Here’s Why Dallas Leaders Are Troubled by Police Officers’ Questionable and Bigoted Facebook Posts

Dallas police Senior Cpl. Jeff Blanch had a question for his Facebook friends in 2012: “Does any other man have trouble keeping their woman in line?”In the comments section, he added that he had “perfected the backhand.”Officer Saint Nelson shared a meme that shows a man, marked “Europe,” with a noose around his neck tied to a small tree, marked “Islam,” that he is watering.Officer Michael DeWilde shared a meme that showed a bundle of explosives labeled “dangerous” attached to a timer. “Look! It’s a clock!” the caption read. The post came days after a Muslim student was arrested in Irving for what authorities assumed might be an explosive device. It turned out to be a self-made digital clock.Those are among the dozens of Dallas officers’ Facebook posts compiled by the Plain View Project, an initiative of Philadelphia-based lawyers who hoped departments would investigate their employees’ conduct.The project, which looked at officers in eight U.S. cities, prompted Dallas police to launch an internal affairs investigation of 34 officers, although the department has declined to release their names. If the investigation finds officers have violated the department’s social media policy, the cops could face possible disciplinary action ranging from written reprimand to termination. Philadelphia’s police commissioner on Thursday announced he would fire 13 officers for their posts and planned disciplinary action for others.  Continue reading...