Law enforcement and social media can be a dicey topic depending on what platform is in question and what content is being posted by any individual in the profession. Given the number of controversies that have cropped up involving law enforcement professionals and their social media exploits, it would make any reasonable person question whether the use of said platforms is even worth the risk.
When it comes to social media, the medium is going on over a quarter century since its inception in the form we currently use it, insofar as connecting and networking with friends, making posts, comments and the ilk, so it’s safe to say social media isn’t going anywhere. What has evolved since the inception of social media is its adoption, as just about everybody stateside has some kind of online presence, alongside what people are willing to share through said platforms.
It was around the early to mid-2010s when law enforcement and social media started gaining traction, and it was arguably the most innocuous period of the practice. During this era, most law enforcement content/personalities on social media were confined to official pages on Facebook with a little humor injected into posts every so often that kept things lighthearted.
By the late 2010s, law enforcement posting on social media was still largely no big deal in terms of controversies, as the era of the dance and lip sync battles was garnering mostly positive attention in the media, with these videos finding their way onto platforms like Facebook and YouTube.
But then a cultural shift occurred at an unsurprising time, namely the 2020 BLM riots, when increased scrutiny was directed toward law enforcement officers on social media. Granted, some of the scrutiny was unwarranted at the time, but in the years following, when TikTok gained massive popularity and confessional-style videos were dominating timelines, some in the law enforcement profession found themselves in proverbial hot water.
Back in 2022, a Federal Way Police officer landed herself a brief suspension after boasting from her cruiser, in her full uniform, about how she’ll “find a reason to pull you over” if random drivers don’t “get the f*ck out of the way” while she’s driving down the highway. While most of those in law enforcement wouldn’t be so brazen as to post something similar online currently, it does demonstrate how being a little too on-the-nose can result in disciplinary matters.
Even the once-thought innocuous posting of yesteryear is in the crosshairs of various department policies nowadays, as an Orange County Sheriff’s deputy in Florida got herself suspended for dancing videos she posted on TikTok while in full uniform. While the content of her videos largely wasn’t the issue, aside from one song featured in a video which apparently had explicit/sexual lyrics, the bigger issue with the public and seemingly the department was that her job was policing, not dancing for a camera.
But even off-duty use of social media has its perils, as the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s assassination showed that law enforcement officers sharing their take on the fatal shooting and surrounding politics was a fast track to suspensions and, in some cases, even terminations. Even sharing one’s opinion on politically relevant events that don’t involve an assassination can result in someone in law enforcement getting ousted from the profession, like in the case of a Florida police officer being fired for sharing his two cents on the Capitol riot from 2021.
Even when avoiding contentious topics like politics, riots, or open-air homicides, simply sharing one’s opinion on consumer products has gotten law enforcement officers in trouble, much like the case out of Kissimmee, Florida, where a detective was placed under internal investigation for running a TikTok shop where she shared product reviews with accompanying affiliate links.
So, can the profession of law enforcement peacefully coexist with personal social media pages? In short, yes, but with some caveats. Those wearing the badge have to understand that everything posted online is scrutinized and sometimes examined in the worst possible light when it reaches a broader or unintended audience. Before typing out that next comment regarding a contentious topical issue or posting that picture or video to Facebook or TikTok, law enforcement professionals should take a moment to think about what their biggest critic would do with what they’re about to post.
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