Chief Constable beset by Twitter trolls from inside his own force
POLICE in Northern Ireland hired a private security firm to investigate Twitter trolls after the Chief Constable was subjected to a series of attacks on social media.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) ordered the investigation last year after George Hamilton received criticism over comments he made to an officer online, in which he told him to stop “wallowing in self pity” and “dry your eyes”.
He subsequently became the subject of a campaign by a number of anonymous Twitter users.
A fake recruitment video posted on Youtube showed PSNI officers dancing beside a police helicopter. A voiceover said: “Are you considering a career where every day you drive home you fear you will be shot? Do you want the rush of wondering if the IRA has planted a bomb under your car? Do you want to be told to dry your eyes when asking for mental health support? Then join the Police Service of Northern Ireland today. Recruitment is now open to a host of new officers to be belittled by senior management teams, spat on by the public, harassed by the police ombudsman and have their spirits crushed.”
But the investigation also allegedly uncovered evidence that serving officers were posting sectarian and racist comments online, and were even publishing information about ongoing police investigations. A source close to the probe said it had been difficult initially to trace the identity of those responsible, because they had covered their online footprint.
However it is understood they were identified when photographs of locations within PSNI buildings that the Twitter user had posted were spotted.
The accounts under investigation were disconnected last week and it is understood the identity of the officers involved is unknown. No officers have been suspended.
Patsy Mcglone, of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), said: “These tweets ranged from highly improper to grossly offensive. If police officers were behind these and the PSNI knows what has been said and posted, why haven’t they been suspended? It doesn’t do much for public confidence when it appears that the PSNI is not taking this type of abuse and trolling seriously. Not to mention the possibility of interfering with the justice system by publicising details of ongoing police operations.”
It is understood investigations are ongoing. Mark Hamilton, the PSNI Assistant Chief Constable, recently said police were “examining material posted on personal social media accounts by a number of individuals and are undertaking investigations to establish if the individuals are all serving officers.”
The PSNI said it would not “accept any racist, sectarian, sexist or homophobic behaviour from any of our staff ”.