“Keep it professional — avoid confrontation.”
That’s in the city of Albuquerque’s social media policy. But as we learned last week, the Albuquerque Police Department has its own social media policy, and it’s understandably rubbing some folks the wrong way.
Here are some examples of APD tweets: “Your racism aside, we have charged 99 murder suspects this year,” “Calling out your b.s. is public service” and “You only complain and never offer solutions.”
Back in July, after a SWAT standoff in which a 15-year-old boy died after a pepper-spray cannister started a fire, some people blamed police for the boy’s “murder.” In a snide tweet, APD said “didn’t know a fire could murder someone.”
That callous response to a child’s death doesn’t serve our professional officers, or the public, well.
Police Chief Harold Medina says APD will continue to “push back” on social media when it comes to people spreading misinformation and cyberbullying. Good. But the above comments just throw fuel on the anti-cop fire and appear to come from a petulant child throwing a temper tantrum.
Policing is a serious business, one with life-or-death consequences. And it’s important to get the facts out about what our officers are doing every day to make our city safer. But you can support the badge without belittling the public. Former police officer and City Councilor Pat Davis told KOAT-TV the tweets cross “the line. (T)his isn’t a one-off. This is months of ongoing, ongoing, ongoing in spite of folks … saying, hey, this isn’t representing us well.”
If Chief Medina doesn’t insist his staff keep communication professional, Mayor Tim Keller should.
This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.
