On Wednesday, the Philadelphia Police Department announced it had pulled 72 of its officers off the streets after Plain View Project discovered thousands of racist and violent post. AsSlate reports, the Philly department made the decision to place the officers on desk duty following the discovery, which has implicated more than 300 of its 6,500 officers on the force.
"We've talked about from the outset how disturbing, how disappointing, and upsetting these posts are," Philly Police Commissioner Richard Ross said on Wednesday. "They will undeniably impact police-community relations."
Plain View Project, which is a group of lawyers that first began monitoring Philly police officers' social media accounts in 2017, added that they discovered posts in which "officers commented that apprehended suspects—often black men— ‘should be dead’ or ‘should have more lumps on his head.'"
Their description of the disturbing and violent behavior added, "In other Facebook conversations, officers advocated shooting looters on sight and using cars to run over protestors." In other words, they were acting exactly like the type of people you don't want to be police officers.
"Numerous posts deemed Islam ‘a cult, not a religion’ and referred to Muslims as ‘savages’ and ‘goat-humpers,'" they continued. "And, in still others, officers appeared to joke about beating and raping women." The full extent of what they discovered can be found on their website.
The Philadelphia police department has hired a law firm to go through the 3,100 posts that the Plain View Project has compiled. Their extensive findings also include worrying content from other police departments across the country, including Phoenix, St. Louis, and Dallas. Ross has announced there will be further sanctions against many of the identified officers. He said that at least "several dozen" will face possible firing.
Philadelphia Magazine requested a list of the names of the officers pulled from the streets, but the department insisted they will "not be released at this time" due to the nature of the ongoing investigation. "They have not been charged with a crime or departmental violation," the department stated.
"As is the case with any arrested officer, if an officer is charged with a criminal offense, his or her name will be released," Captain Sekou Kinebrew said.
Ross has promised an update on the investgation and further discipline will be provided within the coming weeks.
