One deputy advocated banning Islam. Another falsely identified President Obama as a Muslim. Another mocked a photo of a badly beaten black man. Other Facebook posts by deputies glorified violence, objectified women and demeaned immigrants. At least two posts found humor in mowing down protesters with a vehicle, which is precisely what happened two years ago in Charlottesville, Va.
Say hello to some of the peacekeepers who wear badges in Lake County. People who have the power to deprive others of liberty and life.
Through memes and photos, this group of about two dozen current and former deputies displayed sentiments ranging from hatred to disregard for Muslims, African-Americans, Democrats and anyone whom they judge as insufficiently patriotic.
Their vulgar, violent sentiments were exposed by the Plain View Project, founded by a Philadelphia lawyer who saw a post on Facebook by an officer who joked about someone trying to run from a police dog who “likes fast food.”
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office was one of eight law enforcement agencies across the country examined by project founder Emily Baker-White.
Baker-White said Lake County was chosen in part because the project was looking for geographic diversity, but also because Lake County was in the news in 2017 with a popular and controversial video featuring Sheriff Peyton Grinnell. Flanked by four silent, masked deputies, Grinnell ominously warns drug dealers, “We are coming for you. Run.”
The Facebook posts documented by the Plain View Project have a particularly sickening resonance in Lake, which is still haunted by the racist legacy of longtime Sheriff Willis McCall.
But nearly 50 years after McCall left office, Lake deputies are posting images of Confederate battle flags and throwing around racially charged words like “thugs,” with one deputy applying the term to John Lewis, a civil rights leader and current congressman from Georgia.
Beyond the outright bigotry, the posts show a shocking preoccupation and fascination with violence among a group of people who are supposed to protect the public from violence.
Posts reveled in the debilitating effects a Taser has on people and displayed a fondness for the “Punisher skull,” a symbol associated with a Marvel comics character who become a ultra-violent vigilante. How did a character who operates outside the law become such a hero figure to those who swear to uphold the law?
A spokesman for the sheriff’s office, Lt. John Herrell, noted that some of the posts originated with people who are no longer with the force, though 16 current employees are under investigation. Three of them are serving as patrol deputies, hardly a comforting thought if you’re black or Muslim in Lake County.
Philadelphia, another subject of Plain View’s scrutiny, has removed more than 70 officers from patrol duty while the police department investigates. The police chief warned that some may lose their jobs. Prosecutors in St. Louis said they wouldn’t pursue cases brought by 22 officers whose posts were examined by Plain View.
The Lake County posts surely don’t represent the collective sentiments of its deputies, or their law enforcement brothers and sisters in other agencies.
On Friday, for example, the Central Florida Urban League will honor the heroism of law enforcement officers at an event named for slain Orlando Master Sgt. Debra Clayton, who was an example of the best in law enforcement.
These are the men and women who serve their communities with bravery and sacrifice, treating citizens with respect, dignity and restraint regardless of color, religion or any other characteristic.
But as the Plain View Project demonstrates, not everyone wearing a badge possesses those qualities. They harbor dark and violent thoughts, and lack the self-control to even keep it to themselves.
The Plain View revelations, and the fallout, have raised First Amendment issues, and that’s an important discussion to have. Private-sector workplaces generally have more latitude than the public sector in setting rules that limit speech.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office policy prohibits posting online “content which is unethical, slanderous, derogatory or is likely to adversely affect the discipline, good order, or reputation of the agency, or that tends to compromise the integrity of the member.” But those prohibitions are contingent on the person identifying themselves as an employee of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
All the more reason why it’s important for law enforcement agencies to understand as fully as possible someone’s true character before they’re allowed to join the force.
That means having thorough policies and hiring practices — including social media scrutiny — to ferret out applicants who view portions of the population as subhuman. Hiring managers can then politely suggest those applicants find a different line of work.
