7 cops whose Facebook posts were flagged resign
Seven PhilaPHILADELPHIA — delphia police officers whose racist or otherwise offensive Facebook posts were cata- logued in an online database have resigned in the last two weeks, the Police Department said Wednesday.
Capt. Sekou Kinebrew, a police spokesperson, said
labor law restrictions prevented him from confirming whether those officers were among 13 whom Police Commissioner Richard Ross said on July 18 would be fired following 30-day suspensions.
The officers and their resig- nation dates are: Officer Jesus
Cruz, July 18; Officer Anthony Acquaviva, Officer Robert Ban- nan and Cpl. Thomas Young, July 19; Officer Joseph Fox and Sgt. Michael Melvin, July 22; and Officer Edward McCammitt, July 23.
John McNesby, president of Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5, declined to comment on the resignations, FOP spokesperson Mike Neilon said Wednesday.
The union previously said it believed any firings over the Facebook postings would be “completely out of bounds.”
The scandal has attracted national attention. In announc- ing the intended firings — the largest number of officers dismissed at one time in recent city history — Ross stood along-
side Mayor Jim Kenney and said an additional 56 officers would face disciplinary actions.
It was the most significant response yet to the publication on June 1 of the Plain View Proj- ect, a database compiled by advocates that catalogs Facebook posts allegedly made by officers in Philadelphia and seven other jurisdictions: York, Pa.; Phoenix; Dallas; St. Louis; Twin Falls, Idaho; Denison, Texas; and Lake County, Fla.
The database included posts from about 330 active Phila-
delphia cops, far more than the other departments analyzed by the advocates.
Cruz was flagged by the Plain View Project as having made 36 questionable posts, including 29 that showed bias
and eight that allegedly supported, advocated, or referenced violence. His 2018 sal- ary was $78,337, according to city payroll records.
Acquaviva was flagged by the Plain View Project as having made 17 questionable posts, 14 of which showed bias and four that allegedly supported, advocated, or referenced violence. His 2018 salary was $78,337, according to city payroll records.
In a January post, Melvin suggested police officers are not working as a form of protest. “If you listen closely you can hear Police cars all through the city being placed in park. Let it burn,” wrote Melvin, whose salary in 2018 was $88,772, according to city payroll records.
Fox, who according to city payroll records was paid $78,337, was flagged for 24 questionable posts. In November 2014, he captioned a photo of a woman whose face and head were covered with a Muslim burka: “Got some new targets for range day!”
Young, earning $86,170, had two posts and 16 comments in
the database, bashing Islam as a “savage” and violent religion that should be banned in the United States and complaining that politicians prevent police from doing their jobs.