Lincoln officer who violated social media policy no longer on force

(KOSA)
Published: May. 25, 2018 at 4:06 PM CDT
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Lincoln Police said an officer who violated the department's social media policy no longer works for the department.

A statement from Chief Jeff Bliemeister was released Friday afternoon, and said an off-duty officer made an offensive social media post, which led to an internal affairs investigation.

The statement said the officer resigned prior to an internal administrative hearing that was scheduled.

The release did not provide any specifics about the officer or the post in question.

You can read LPD's statement on the incident below.

"On May 4, 2018, a member of the Lincoln Police Department alerted the internal affairs division to an offensive social media post. The publically viewable portion of the account identified the account owner as working for the City of Lincoln. Anyone viewing the public profile could deduce based on photographs and captions that the individual served as a member of our agency. The employee was immediately placed on a modified assignment as the internal investigation proceeded. We found the post was made while off-duty, could be viewed by their friends and the string contained opinions and captions that were in violation of our General Orders governing social media that states “Individuals who identify themselves as an employee of the department shall not publish any communication which would under any circumstance undermine or tarnish the department. No personnel shall relate themselves with other information, opinions, or positions that would bring adverse criticism or embarrassment upon the department.” The communication was derogatory and in contrast to the mission and values of our agency. We strive to cultivate an environment where employees feel comfortable reporting policy violations and we commend the reporting employee for bringing this to our attention.

An internal administrative hearing was scheduled and the employee submitted their resignation prior to the hearing being held.

The Lincoln Police Department reported the incident to the Nebraska Crime Commission for investigation into the former officer’s certification and to our prosecutorial partners."