Inside: Officer fired over Facebook posts.
Action comes as result of Plain View Project
Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams has fired Officer Clinton David Swick following a nationwide scandal over Facebook posts by law enforcement.
The Plain View Project, launched by Philadelphia lawyer Emily Baker-White, created a database of Facebook posts and comments made by current and former police officers from several jurisdictions across the United States, including Phoenix.
The database showed 178 questionable posts from more than 70 Phoenix officers. Many endorsed violence, in some cases against Mexicans, Muslims, women and criminal defendants.
Swick has been with the Police Department since 1991. He was the only one fired for his posts, but dozens of other officers were suspended. Phoenix police did not release the names of those suspended.
Swick was among three officers fired in recent days for various issues of misconduct, according to Sgt. Tommy Thompson.
During a news conference on Tuesday, Williams also announced officer Christopher Meyer was also fired. A cellphone video that went viral in June showed Meyer pointing a gun at a car occupied by Dravon Ames, his pregnant fiancee Iesha Harper and their children.
Police also fired Sgt. Daniel Beau Jones, who is under criminal investigation for an undisclosed and unrelated matter.
“No chief ever wants to discuss discipline like this in a public format,” Williams said. “I expect my officers to be respectful, to be professional, to be courteous. And that is not what happened in (these) cases.”
Numerous posts and comments from Swick were flagged in the database and many of them target individuals who are Muslim or black. He shared a photo that mentions “Obama’s Muslim colonization plan” and a meme that states, “Statistics show that criminals commit less crime after they’ve been shot.”
He also shared a meme suggesting drivers “speed up, aim well” at Ferguson protesters, referencing the protests following the police shooting of Michael Brown.
Since the database was published in June, the departments have faced backlash, including in Phoenix.
At the time, Williams said she pulled some officers from enforcement duties, but she didn’t specify who. She also said the department was investigating those officers named in the database.
As a result of the Plain View Project, Phoenix police said it investigated 72 Phoenix employees:
❚ 60 have received “supervisory coaching.”
❚ Swick was terminated.
❚ Three officers received suspensions ranging from eight to 40 hours.
❚ One employee posted before Phoenix
police had a social-media policy.
❚ One case is pending. (Sgt. Juan Hernandez has sued the Police Department over the matter.)
The disciplined officers were not identified because of labor-practice laws, Williams said.
The department’s social-media policy tells employees to be cautious of their “speech and related activity on social media sites” because it “may be considered a reflection upon their position, and, in some instances, this Department.”
Williams said police officers, like any other person, have a First Amendment right to express themselves. However, she said, an officer is held to a higher standard by the agency that employs them.
“As a public servant, we wear this badge as a symbol of our commitment to a higher standard,” she said. “One that won’t erode the trust of those who serve or tarnish the pride that is involved with being a Phoenix police offi
cer.”
She added it is hard for her to accept what the officers posted on Facebook.
“It is difficult to admit that we had employees that did not live up to those expectations,” she said. “But we know that the behavior we witness was unacceptable.”
Phoenix Officer Ryan Nielsen, a 15year veteran, wrote a Facebook post in March 2010 complaining about his “ghetto neighbors” having a party and making a lot of noise.
In the comment exchange with someone else, Nielsen wrote that he planned to buy a shotgun but that his AR — presumably referring to the AR-15 firearm — would help protect his house.
He also said in the comment section that he may call the Sheriff ’s Office and report the residence may be a drop house, a term used by law enforcement to describe a property where smugglers house undocumented immigrants as they await payments.
Officer David Pallas, who has been with the department since 1987, uploaded a meme on June 2016 critical of the Obamas. The meme depicts Michelle Obama with a quote that says, “Every single day I wake up in a house that was built by slaves...” Underneath it, there’s a picture of famed actor John Wayne with a caption that says, “THEN GET OUT! AND TAKE YOUR GAY MUSLIM
HUSBAND WITH YOU.”
That same month, Pallas posted another meme depicting the Quran with a caption that reads: “HOW ABOUT BANNING THIS. IT OFFENDS ME!!”
Phoenix police Officer Joshua Ankert wrote, “CONGRATULATIONS GEORGE ZIMMERMAN!!! Thank you for cleaning up our community one thug at a time,” in July 2013, the day after a jury in Florida acquitted Zimmerman of murder in the killing of Trayvon Martin.
The Phoenix Law Enforcement Association, the Phoenix police union that represents the department’s rank-andfile, posted on Facebook that it doesn’t agree with Williams’ decisions to fire Meyer and Swick.
“PLEA has a complete understanding of the position Chief Jeri Williams is in as the leader of the Phoenix Police Department and as an appointed employee of the City of Phoenix,” the statement said. “PLEA is dedicated to its members, and we ensure that we carry our members’ interests through until the end of all the processes that encompass employment with the City of Phoenix.”
Phoenix Councilman Sal DiCiccio also spoke against the firings.
“Firing these officers because of Facebook posts and bad language is not justice,” DiCiccio said in an emailed statement. “This is nothing more than the City of Phoenix giving in to mob rule. Our police officers work incredibly hard and put their lives on the line for our city every single day. They should not have to worry that the outrage of a small handful of anti-police anarchists will cost them their job.”
Hernandez, who was also listed in the database of Facebook posts, has sued the Phoenix Police Department in federal court, claiming the agency violated his First Amendment rights by trying to discipline him for posts that disparaged Muslims and undocumented immigrants.
Hernandez shared 11 memes or “news articles” that described Muslims as criminals or referred to immigrants as illegal.
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According to the lawsuit, filed on Oct. 11 by Hernadez’s lawyer Steve Serbalik, the department’s Professional Standards Bureau’s “draft investigation” would sustain that Hernandez violated the Police Department’s policy.
As a result, Hernandez would be suspended between 40 and 240 hours without pay or be demoted or terminated, the lawsuit said.
As part of the lawsuit, Hernadez’s lawyer asked for a temporary restraining order against the Police Department from any disciplinary actions.
Every officer who has been terminated has the right to appeal. Phoenix police have explained the process:
When claims of wrongdoing are made, the department’s Professional Standards Bureau investigates the claims. If the bureau finds there was employee misconduct, investigators can refer the case to the Disciplinary Review Board, which is chaired by one of the department’s assistant police chiefs and has six additional members, including two peer officers, two civilians and two police commanders.
After reviewing the case, the board will make a disciplinary recommendation to the police chief, who also reviews the case and ultimately decides what type of punishment the employee will receive.
The employee has the right to appeal to the city’s five-member Civil Service Board, which will sustain the punishment or reduce the punishment. In the case of the employee being fired, this board can give him or her the job back.
Nearly 73% of the department’s 2,937 sworn officers are white, while about 19% are Hispanic and 4% are African American, department data shows. That’s compared with a city that, according to U.S. Census data, has a population that is about 42% white, 43% Hispanic and 7% African American.
In July 2018, the Phoenix Police Department received from the city $450,000 to have its officers undergo implicit bias training.
The training started last fall and was scheduled to last a year at $150,000. It could be extended for an additional two years, as needed, with a total possible price of $450,000.
Instructors are teaching officers about implicit bias, what causes it, how it affects the community, why it is problematic and how to be aware of one’s own bias on the job.