A retired Baltimore City police officer has stirred up controversy for posting a allegedly racist and derogatory photo on Facebook.
On Dec.16, WJZ-TV, Baltimore’s CBS affiliate, reported that a former city cop posted a picture of African-American men on top of a car protesting in Ferguson, Mo., over the death of Michael Brown, the unarmed teen that was killed by a White police officer. Adjacent to that photo is a similar, but derogatory photo. Due to the offensive nature of the photo, however, the image has been blurred out.
The Baltimore City Police Department said it is aware of the photo and that the department does not support the posting.
“There’s a picture that’s circulating on social media right now that a number of people have tried to link to the agency. We want to be absolutely crystal clear here: It’s an offensive picture; it doesn’t represent the values and the ethics of this police department,” Lt. Eric Kowalczyk told WJZ-TV. “The person who posted that picture has no affiliation with the police department. It doesn’t represent who we’re about. We listen to the community; we saw that we were out of the line with the community and we’re going to do everything we can to make sure that the police department is an equal partner with the people that we’re here to serve.”
Representatives from the NAACP sad they were upset with the photo and are happy that the officer is no longer on active duty.
The Baltimore City Department has also been in the spotlight this week over controversial comments made by Commissioner Anthony Batts. At a Dec. 16 press conference, Batts asked whether those marching for the lives of those killed by police would march for those cops that have been shot. He was referring to Officer Andrew Gorman, who had been shot by 19-year-old Dante Jones in West Baltimore during a traffic stop on Dec. 14. Some applauded Batts, while others thought his comments were insensitive and came at a bad timing.
The retired police officers’ photos have raised questions of whether or not a government agency should or could control the social media activity of former employees.
Twitter: @hunter_jonathan