Social media policies should be the same all around

As public servants, we must maintain a certain impartiality in how we conduct ourselves both on duty and off. Our actions are constantly being monitored in order to ensure that we are performing our duties faithfully and to the best of our abilities. We must work toward providing a sense of service to everyone we encounter, regardless of our many differences. These expectation filter down to our personal social media accounts which are representations of who we are.

Most professions today maintain social media rules and regulations. They want to ensure that employees portray themselves appropriately and in the best light, as members of their company. Government entities also maintain rules and regulations on social media to ensure that the public can not question the integrity and judgement of its members.

Police officers and firefighters have strict guidelines about social media as they are at the front lines of service to the public.

Social media has become a new battlefield of first amendment rights. There is a fine line between being able to express yourself freely and crossing the line into bias.

Many officers and fire fighters have found themselves in the middle of that struggle.

Across the country, these public servants are being disciplined and at times removed from employment due to their social media posts. While in many instances the posts are not specific and outright to any group, they are filled with opinions that make it difficult for the public to have faith and trust in these individuals.

The latest trend regarding social media is the need to prove one’s “wokeness.”

“Wokeness” refers to a perceived awareness of issues concerning social justice and racial justice. The public discourse is constantly measuring ones “woke” credentials and individuals are constantly in competition as to whom is more “woke.”

As public servants, our ability to maintain neutrality and serve everyone must be maintained. There should never be a question of whether an individual or group of individuals hold racists views or the appearance of hating one group or another. We work hand in hand with, and serve all races, cultures, creeds, religions, sexual orientations etc. and the mere appearance of bias can call into question an individuals ability to perform objectively.

In Trenton, a police officer was investigated for commenting on his private account, while off duty, about the citizens of Trenton. Politicians were upset and offended by the officers commentary, and created a firestorm to ensure that an investigation was conducted. At the conclusion of the investigation, the officer was found to have violated the rules and regulations on social media. This investigation was the final straw in a line of investigations involving this officer which led to the termination of his employment.

Whatever your opinions on what the officer posted are irrelevant. The question that had to be answered during the investigation was did the officer violate the code of conduct on social media. In that instance, the officer was found to have done so.

I was recently informed of a Trenton fire fighter supervisor who posted on his personal social media account, while on duty,

“There should be White History Month so we can expose all the evil things white folks have done in history and in the present that still affect the victims and their descendants till this very day like”… and proceeded to list 87 tragic historical events that this fire fighter attributed to “white folks”.

As a white fire fighter, what are you to believe about this supervisor? Will he have your best interests in mind or will he lump you in with the “white folks” he obviously has so much disdain for? And what about “white folks” whose homes are on fire? Should they worry that this supervisor will make the right decisions when encountering a home that is owned or lived in by “white folks”? What are “white folks” to believe when dealing with this supervisor?

I don’t know this supervisor. He may not have a racist bone in his body. He may be a great supervisor and fire fighter, but in an effort to prove his “wokeness”, this individual went from being knowledgeable and truthful and proceeded beyond the fine line of racism. He himself acknowledged that fact as he quickly deleted the post once it was seen and questioned by other fire fighters.

Similarly to the police officer, whatever your opinions of what the fire fighter wrote are irrelevant. An investigation should be conducted to identify whether the fire fighter’s post violated the departments code of conduct.

Now, there have been questions as to why politicians have not addressed this situation. Politicians were outwardly vocal about their demands for an investigation of the police officer. They held press conferences, gave statements and continually repeated that the police officer should no longer work for the City of Trenton. Where are those voices now when this situation continues to boil over within the fire department?

What makes this situation so much more different than that of the police officer that was investigated? Why does it appear that this situation is being swept under the rug by the Administration? Where is the uproar that this situation merits?

I have more faith in fairness and justice than to believe that the reason is because the police officer is white and the fire fighter is African-American.

It can’t be because of that.

It just can’t…

Can it?