The Dallas Police Department issued a statement indicating an investigation is underway in response to reportedly allegations that two Dallas officers made comments in support of a racially offensively photo posted on Facebook.
Earlier today the Black Police Association of Greater Dallas (BPA) called for an investigation of two officers reportedly making favorable comments of a photo featuring “a group of whites standing next to a white male in blackface, tied up with a rope and noose around his neck. The individuals in the picture are giving a thumbs up.” Reportedly the insensitive humor was directed at Hispanic Americans.
The BPA pointed out the fact humor directed at sexual assault victims or inappropriate to feature Nazi’s hanging a Jewish priest in something intended as humorous.
In this age of social media chatter, this situation once again raises an interesting question: should what an individual shares on their personal social media profile impact their employment when the topic is unrelated. The BPA addressed this issue in their statement:
While we recognize the right of free speech, we deplore the support and agreement with hate speech and the likes of racist propaganda. Police officers by the nature of their job are held to a higher standard, and we don’t get to give the straight arm salute, yelling “Heil …,” nor can we refer to our citizens using sub-human language (n_ gg_ _, spade, spook, etc). Condoning insensitive, racist posts, whether on Facebook, Twitter or other social media is of similar character, and officers who participate should be disciplined for “conduct unbecoming a police officer.”
Our community, (humans) should be outraged and unaccepting of such cruel, harsh, and downright indefensible social media posts. Regardless of the outcome we firmly believe that an investigation is warranted to determine what, if any role any Dallas Police Officer may have played in this deplorable post on Facebook.
