The Detroit Police Department is cracking down on how officers use social networks like Facebook.
A new directive, approved Thursday by the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners, is aimed at preventing the release of privileged information. That includes information concerning crimes, accidents or violations. The directive says employees have to use discretion to avoid discrediting or disrespecting the department.
Detroit Police Chief Ralph Godbee Jr. said the impetus for the new directive was an incident earlier this year in which a Detroit officer posted pictures on Facebook of a man wielding a machete. The man was shot by an officer and suffered a non-life-threatening injury, police said. The officer who posted the pictures wasn't suspended, Godbee said.
Godbee said that isn't the only time an Internet-related incident has occurred, but without a policy, officers couldn't be disciplined.
Under the new directive, they can be held accountable.
It says members of the department using social media outlets for personal use "shall not post, transmit, or otherwise disseminate any information obtained as a result of their employment with the Detroit Police Department without written permission from the chief of police or his/her designee."
The police chief has to approve postings of photographs of such things as crime or accident scenes, department-issued equipment, uniforms, badges and the inside or outside of police buildings.
Officers also are cautioned, for their safety, not to disclose their employment with the department.
"When using social media," the directive says, "members should be mindful that their speech becomes part of the worldwide electronic domain."
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
