ST. LOUIS 鈥 Training that鈥檚 meant to flag bias that can impair police work is scheduled to begin in the fall following the release of a report a year ago that found dozens of 狐狸视频 police officers used social media to post racist, misogynistic and other objectionable material.
An initial round of training was introduced by 狐狸视频 police officials shortly after numerous posts were publicized by the , an online database released last July that revealed thousands of troubling posts by officers in 狐狸视频 and seven other police agencies across the country.
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The project identified 43 狐狸视频 officers who used social media to promote things such as the mistreatment of protesters. Twenty-one of the officers remain on the force.
Police Chief John Hayden said this week that the department is bringing in Drake Consulting and Coaching in the fall to work with officers on how bias may affect their decisions. Officers will work through 鈥渞eal-life incidents, such as those surrounding the deaths of Mike Brown (in Ferguson), Anthony Lamar Smith (in 狐狸视频) and now unfortunately and sadly George Floyd,鈥 a department spokesperson said.
鈥淭he Plain View Project was a 鈥榳ake up call鈥 that exposed the fact that some of our officers had views with respect to race, which were inconsistent with our department鈥檚 core values and the oath to which we swear,鈥 Hayden said in a statement.
By the time the project published its findings, 20 of the 狐狸视频 officers included in the project database were no longer with the department. That left 23 officers who faced an internal investigation. After a six-month review, Sgt. Ronald Hasty and Detective Thomas Mabrey were fired in December for their Facebook posts.
Other officers were disciplined, though the department would not say how many. Three of the officers were given desk jobs, Director of Public Safety Jimmie Edwards has previously said.
City employees, including officers, are expected to abide by a that prohibits content that 鈥渄isparages a person or group of persons based on that person鈥檚 or group鈥檚 race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, ancestry, religion,鈥 among other identities. The policy also speaks against posting violent material.
鈥淚 think that as far as officers being hesitant to post some of the most sexist and homophobic and vile and racist things, they鈥檙e hesitant to do that now. You don鈥檛 see it as much now,鈥 said police Sgt. Heather Taylor, president of the Ethical Society of Police, an organization representing mostly minority police officers.
The project findings touched on some of the same themes of police reform and accountability that have become amplified by nationwide protests following the May 25 death of Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis.
Taylor said a 鈥渃ulture of violence鈥 is embedded in the police department鈥檚 history 鈥 a culture that鈥檚 difficult to change. Hayden did not respond when asked by email about Taylor鈥檚 claim about the police culture.
鈥(We have) officers who are stellar, who don鈥檛 get in trouble, stand up and call out corruption,鈥 Taylor said. 鈥淲hen they鈥檙e calling it out, they鈥檙e being punched in the mouth.
鈥淲hen you do (call out corruption), you have to be prepared for the culture in your police department to eat you up,鈥 she continued. 鈥淚t will eat you up.鈥
狐狸视频 Mayor Lyda Krewson said this week that she has faith in the department鈥檚 leadership.
鈥淯nder Chief Hayden and Public Safety Director Judge Edwards, I think they have done a very good job of holding officers accountable 鈥 throughout the last few years officers have been held accountable for their behavior as is appropriate,鈥 Krewson told the Post-Dispatch.
Officers who were identified by the project who remain on the force include one lieutenant and three sergeants, in addition to 17 other officers.
The project鈥檚 findings pushed Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner last year to place 22 of the officers on an exclusion list barring them from seeking charges against people they arrest, among other restrictions.
Gardner鈥檚 office this week did not respond to questions on whether those officers remain on the exclusion list.
Gardner used information from the project鈥檚 findings in January in her federal civil rights lawsuit against the police union and other defendants.
Project founder Emily Baker-White could not be reached for comment but previously told the Post-Dispatch, 鈥淔or whatever reason 鈥 we did see a somewhat smaller proportion (of officers) in 狐狸视频 posting this content than we did in other jurisdictions.鈥
In Philadelphia, 330 officers were named in the project, resulting in the dismissal of . In Phoenix, were included in the project. The active officers were immediately taken off the streets by the police commissioner.
狐狸视频 Officer Michael Calcaterra shared 18 public Facebook posts flagged by Plain View, many depicting guns and violence.
One post Calcaterra shared in 2013 was a meme depicting an officer throwing a punch in a crowd of people, with text over his face that reads, 鈥淚鈥檓 going to protect and serve the (expletive) out of you.鈥
In another post, Calcaterra shared a photo of two officers bent over laughing. Words over the officers read, 鈥淭hey said (expletive) the police. So I said 鈥(expletive) your 911 call, I鈥檒l get to your dying home boy when I finish my coffee.鈥欌
鈥淚 have no idea what you鈥檙e talking about,鈥 Calcaterra told the Post-Dispatch this week when reached by phone. 鈥淚 have no comment.鈥
Officer Bartney Shane Coats shared a link to a about a Detroit carjacking suspect who was beaten by police, with Coats鈥 caption, 鈥淐hris Rock sayz 鈥業f you run from the Police they bringing an ass whippin鈥 with鈥檈m!!!!!鈥欌
Coats declined to comment.
A former sergeant shared a photo that read, 鈥淢arch is national 鈥楽top Blaming White People Month!鈥 Accept responsibility for your own bad choices. Hug a white person!鈥
Hayden said the department is gearing up for 鈥渃andid conversations鈥 as part of its training.
鈥淲e鈥檙e looking forward to having some very constructive dialogue with our officers about how things like Plain View affect the relationship with the community and how it affects our relationship with each other,鈥 he said.
Janelle O鈥橠ea of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.
