Police Chief in Maryland Urges Close Of Internet Police Forum
Ernesto Londoño writes in The Washington Post:
Montgomery County Police Chief J. Thomas Manger called on the department's union yesterday to take down an online message board that some police officers have used as a forum for disparaging, and sometimes racist, remarks about colleagues, supervisors, immigrants and other members of the community.More here.
The union said it would not shut down the board, saying that it serves a legitimate purpose and that doing so would curtail officers' right to free speech.
posted by Fergie @ 3/24/2006 07:05:00 AM
1 Comments:
First of all, I am not a Montgomery County Police Officer, nor do I work for the department in any capacity. I would like to say a few things about the article written by Ernesto Londono. While I beleive that the few quotes taken out of context from a privatly operated website are wrong, I also believe that everyone has a right to their opinion. Please keep in mind that the opinions shared on that website are often induced by a long and stressful shift spent defending a public that does nothing but bash the police. I happen to KNOW for a fact that the quotes published by Mr. Londono DO NOT represent the majority of the Montgomery County Police...I know too many honest and hard working cops.
Mr. Londono, I urge you to take a closer look at your story and your sources. You, Sir, have been taken advantage of by someone with a personal agenda. This story was brought to you by an officer that was "concerned" about the remarks that had been made on a website. What the officer didn't say was that they were "upset and wanted revenge". While it is never pleasant to admit when we are wrong, you now a have great responsibility to the hard working men and women of the Police Department and more importantly, the citizens of Montgomery County. You have opened a can, found a few worms, but never bothered to dig to the bottom and find the real dirt. Perhaps one of the detectives you interviewed can help you learn how to investigate something WELL.
Well, that is all the help I'm willing to give you Mr. Londondo. As it stands right now, you have a tremendous amount of work ahead of you to repair the damage done by your poor investigation and eagerness to wrtie a story that would grab headlines. I can only hope that you are a man of honor and will work diligently to right a wrong. Good luck to you.
-R
Post a Comment
<< Home