Federal judge rules MPD must turn over details of social media searches
City worries about undercover officers
A federal judge ruled this week that the Memphis Police Department must provide the court with lists of all words that MPD officers enter into social media searches on the job, even if the online searches have to do with sensitive investigations of violent gangs.
“The social media search terms used by both undercover and uniformed (gang unit) officers must be disclosed to the Court . . . regardless of the sensitivity of the information,” U.S. District Judge Jon Mccalla wrote in the ruling, issued Wednesday.
Mccalla had originally ordered this measure in 2018, but the city withheld some items it considered too sensitive. This week he ordered that the city must not only turn over social media search terms used by officers on the Multiagency Gang Unit, but also from the MPD’S Organized Crime Unit and a police division that investigates crimes against children.
Mccalla also ruled that MPD officers must turn over all social media search terms that they’re using for official police business, even if they’re using their personal social media accounts.
Enforcement of judge’s October 2018 order
The judge’s ruling this week is a narrow slice of the broader fight between the ACLU of Tennessee and the city government over political surveillance and related issues.
In rulings in 2018, the judge concluded that the city government had violated a 1978 consent decree, or formal agreement, against political surveillance of non-criminals.
The judge cited specific actions by the MPD, including the department’s use of a fictitious social media persona named “Bob Smith” to conduct political surveillance on non-violent protesters with Black Lives Matter and other movements.
The judge’s October 2018 order also highlighted the ways in which social media search terms could play a role in political intelligence.
“MPD’S Real Time Crime Center (“RTCC”) conducted political intelligence when an officer searched its social media collator for all instances of the term ‘Black Lives Matter,’ because the information gathered related to First Amendment Rights,” Mccalla wrote in the ruling.
To prevent this from happening again, the judge ordered the city to provide a detailed description of how MPD officers use social media on the job.
“The City shall maintain a list of all search terms entered into social media collators or otherwise used by MPD officers collecting information on social media while on duty. This list shall be filed under seal every three months until the Court orders otherwise,” the order said.
The social media search terms are filed with the court under seal and are not available to the general public.
The city withheld some of the more sensitive search terms, expressing concern that the lists might leak to the public, jeopardizing undercover officers and undermining investigations.
The two sides had held a hearing on the issue in May. In this week’s ruling, the judge went through the city’s objections one-by-one and rejected them.
Among other things, the judge wrote that requiring MPD officers to turn over social media search terms from their personal social media accounts is not an unwarranted violation of privacy, so long as the search terms are work-related.
He also addressed the city’s concern about leaks of sensitive information.
“Filing the documents under seal and carefully restricting access to this information protects sensitive law enforcement information from inadvertent public disclosure while providing a formal mechanism to protect the individual liberty and the integrity of agreed upon restrictions in the (1978 consent decree,)” the judge wrote.
City says it will comply, but is still concerned about undercover officers
The city government responded in a statement:
“The City has been producing search terms of several departments in MPD since January 2019, but the court ruled that the City is required to produce the search terms used by all officers, regardless of their assignment or nature of the investigation, for example undercover operations or investigations involving sex crimes against children,” Chief Legal Officer Jennifer Sink said.
“The City will comply with the Court’s ruling, but remains concerned about the sensitivity of the search terms, the risk of compromising criminal investigations, and the safety of our officers, especially those operating undercover.”
During a June hearing, Maj. Darren Goods, the MPD officer who leads the gang unit, expressed concern that a leak of confidential social media search information could lead to someone’s death.
He said gangs will retaliate against informants.
“We’ve got a sergeant in office now who was working a source,” Goods said.
That source made a mistake and confided the cooperation with police to someone else, Goods said.
“It got back to the gang we were investigating. And they killed the source.”
Judge has not yet ruled on rewrite of consent decree
The judge is considering another matter: a rewrite of the 1978 consent decree to adjust it for modern times.
The city government and the ACLU had a series of meetings and reached agreement on 16 of 17 issues in the rewrite of the consent decree. But couldn’t agree on the 17th issue: how and when exactly the MPD can coordinate with other police agencies that aren’t subject to the consent decree.
The two sides had a multi-day hearing on the issue in June. The judge said he would take the issue under consideration and rule later.
Reporter Samuel Hardiman contributed to this story.
Investigative reporter Daniel Connolly welcomes tips and comments from the public. Reach him at 529-5296, daniel.connolly@commercialappeal.com, or on Twitter at @danielconnolly.