SIDELINED

72 Philadelphia Police Officers Disciplined Over Offensive, Racist Social Media Posts

Dozens of police officers were taken off regular duty after allegedly posting racist and hateful comments on social media.

The Philadelphia Police Department has placed 72 officers on administrative duty following an investigation into offensive social media posts allegedly made by the officers. An investigation began earlier this month into a public database that contained thousands of offensive posts, compiled by the Plain View Project. CNN reports that some of the posts included Confederate imagery, anti-Muslim sentiments, and racist comments. Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross said Wednesday that while the investigation continues, officers have been pulled from street duty but have not been removed from the force. He added that at least “several dozen” of the 72 officers will be disciplined and others will be fired, but he did not provide specifics.“We are equally as disgusted by many of the posts that you saw and in many cases, the rest of the nation saw,” Ross said, calling the posts “disturbing, disappointing and upsetting.”