Ride the Lightning
Cybersecurity and Future of Law Practice Blog
by Sharon D. Nelson Esq., President of Sensei Enterprises, Inc.
Dishing the Digital Dirt on Cops
November 18, 2010
More than one third of police agencies now review applicants’ social media activity during background checks according to the first report on agencies’ social media use by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP). The recent report surveyed 728 agencies.
The agencies are requesting that police candidates sign waivers allowing the examination of their social media sites and demanding that the applicants provide IDs and passwords. In some cases, text messages and e-mail logs are also being requested.
The National Fraternal Order of Police has worried that defense lawyers could use information from these sites to undercut the credibility of officers in court. Even the executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), Marc Rotenberg, has said he is uneasy about this kind of intrusiveness. If you look at some of the evidence that has been found on social media sites, it is clear that it does serve as a useful screening tool. Applicants have been rejected because of posted suicide threats, racial slurs, explicit sexual talk or photos, etc.
Like Mr. Rotenberg, I am uneasy about the extent of the intrusion – and yet I see a payoff, particularly in a field where public protection is at stake – and where we have experienced so many unfortunate incidents stemming from police officers who are prone to violence, discrimination, etc. If we could pluck some of the bad apples before giving them a badge, perhaps we wouldn’t need so many Internal Affairs officers.
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