New limits placed on LAPD officers’ personal social media activity - LA Daily News

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Los Angeles police officers will no longer be able to use any Los Angeles Police Department trademarks or insignia and could face discipline for discriminatory or harassing behavior on their personal social media accounts as part of an updated policy approved by the LAPD Board of Commissioners Tuesday, April 27.

The newly updated policy also prohibits posts that could compromise the safety of other officers, posting non-public material or any statements claiming to be representative of the department, according to the policy.

The new policy attempts to “balance employees’ rights with the needs of the Department in fulfilling its public safety mission,” LAPD Chief Michel Moore said in a department-wide notice.

“As the digital landscape continues to evolve and new online communication platforms emerge, the impact and influence of social media within the community increases,” Moore wrote. “It is therefore important that all personnel carefully consider the implications of their use of social media.”

The policy comes with reminders of the diverse community in which the officers serve and warns that regardless of the privacy setting on an officer’s personal social media page, messages could still reach public eyes if they’re shared with others.

Posts on personal accounts could also call to question officers’ credibility and could be questioned in court, Moore wrote.

Lizbeth Rhodes, an administrator in LAPD’s Office of Constitutional Policing and Policy, said the policy didn’t change much, even after a pair of civilian employee unions asked to comment on the language in the notice.

She said LAPD wanted to be clear and succinct: The department won’t violate any officer or civilian employee’s First Amendment rights with discipline over the policy, but that such rights are “not absolute.”

Rhodes said LAPD employees would still be able to sue the department over the policy, if they choose.

Commissioner Steve Soboroff asked if the policy meant anything would change for officers who wear LAPD branded clothing while off duty: He gave the example of an officer wearing an LAPD hat at a baseball game or at a birthday party.

Chief Michel Moore said the new policy wouldn’t change what the department already expects of officers representing themselves as members of the department: “If your conduct at that sporting event is to the discredit of the organization, and it comes to be known, you will be subject to disciplinary action.”

He said effectively the social media policy takes that same idea and translates it to conduct on the internet.

Moore also said LAPD already has policies on officers wearing their uniforms while off duty, barring them from profiting from a commercial arrangement while appearing to act in an official capacity for the department.

Commissioner Maria Lou Calanche brought up a social media post over the weekend in which an officer addressed a post by basketball star Lebron James, who had tweeted, then deleted, a post calling out the Columbus, Ohio police officer who killed 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant.

Calanche appeared to be referring to LAPD Officer Deon Joseph’s Facebook post asking James for a face-to-face meeting to discuss police issues.

No one addressed that post specifically. Rhodes said discipline under the policy depends entirely on what the officer might say on social media, and whether it’s respectful or reflects badly on the department.

Moore said the policy did not mean LAPD would begin actively scanning officer and civilian employee social media accounts for disrespectful or hateful language. The chief said the department didn’t have the means to do that. And Rhodes said she didn’t know if there were any active investigations into LAPD employee social media accounts.

However, the department is investing in new software that would ramp up that ability, but mostly to check on social media around protests and potential threats to public safety. And police already actively monitor social media for people they think will cause trouble at public events, as the chief said about last year’s George Floyd protests and the showdown between protestors and police at Echo Park Lake in March.

The policy changes come after the department had come under scrutiny in recent months, including a February incident in which a Valentine’s Day message mocking George Floyd’s death was shared among officers.

In November, a sergeant sued the department claiming it violated his constitutional rights for disciplining him twice over posts on a personal social media account pertaining to Muslims, Brett Kavanaugh’s appointment to the Supreme Court and the death of rapper Nipsey Hussle.

Comments from personal social media accounts have also plagued the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

In July, the Sheriff’s chief of staff, Capt. John Burcher, was reassigned after he made comments on Facebook regarding the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Andres Guardado, claiming the teen “chose his fate.”

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