This is a post which discusses comments made by the twitter account @SDGhostRider. According to the Baltimore Sun, it is operated by Lt. Victor C. Gearhart, a 33-year veteran of the Baltimore Police Department and current midnight shift commander at the Southern District who is currently working Building Security at Police headquarters. As of 2014, Lt. Gearhart had been elected Vice President of the Baltimore City Fraternal Order of Police.
There's a serious situation in Baltimore that has bubbled up, and I hope folks will take the time to read about it. There appears to be an active-duty Lieutenant in the Baltimore City Police Department whose online rhetoric has increased from what I would deem 'run-of-the-mill-right-wingism' to a level of direct confrontation and racism that appears, from the outside, to be quite dangerous.
One curiosity about Lt. Gearhart’s timeline is that he joined back in 2009, but his first visible tweet is from June of last year. Whatever he may have deleted in the mean time (or not), it appears that @SDGhostRider clearly does not like Stephanie Rawlings-Blake (Baltimore's Mayor), Marilyn Mosby (Baltimore's State's Attorney), and Anthony Batts (the former Baltimore Chief of Police). He also doesn't like liberals (or, as he would put it, lib-tards), political correctness, and a lot of other things. I won't take the time to post those tweets, you can check his timeline. But trust and believe, he's no fan.
In addition to those sentiments, we also have a smattering of regular-ol' racism via 'thug', ‘ghetto’, and 'ratchet':
And retweeting the confederate flag:
Along with an admission to a police stand-down:
And then somewhere around September, it started to get personal. There started to be comments made about individual protestors:
And the 'thugs' comments picked up:
And then he throws in some mock 'ebonics':
And then just mocks the citizens of Baltimore.
Up until early this month, Lt. Gearhart had attracted some limited attention. Then, last week, Michael Wood (a former Baltimore Police Officer active in the movement) tweets at him:
They then engage in an argument of some sort, over what, I'm still not sure. But Lt. Gearhart is not pleased.
A lot of people follow Michael Wood on Twitter (23K), see the fray, and jump in. You can read Lt. Gearhart's timeline to see the mess of it all, as it's not really captured, above. In the midst of that conversation, one of our awesome young (17 year-old high school student) advocates, Makayla Gilliam-Price, posted a piece on the Assata's Syllabus blog page about Lt. Gearhart’s history of troublesome tweets.
Lt. Gearhart saw the post, then started posting about her family's past, one that she's been very public about: her Uncle was on death row and executed shortly after she was born in 1998.
Lt. Gearhart, it seems, was displeased with her blog post.
It's like Lt. Gearhart is that uncle who watches Fox news that you don't want to have to talk to at Thanksgiving...except he's in the Police Command leadership of your city.
So what's the point?
The point is simply this: regardless of the First-Amendment 'legality' of Lt. Gearhart's statements (which will take forever to litigate), his conduct is at a professional level unethical, and should be sanctioned.
An Enforceable Code of Ethics
Many things have become clear in the debate around police misconduct over the past few years, and one of them is the seeming lack of adverse consequences for confirmed unethical behavior by police officers. Beyond the obvious, why does that perception persist?
Well, for starters, there is no state-by-state code of professional responsibility for law enforcement (as there is for attorneys, for example).
The ethical rules for local law enforcement are haphazard, inconsistent, unknown and, in many places, unknowable. The general order governing ethics for the Baltimore Police Department (#301) is not available online, so far as I can tell. There are over 18,000 local law enforcement agencies in the United States and each might very well be governed by a different code of ethical standards, if they are officially bound by one at all.
When the rules are scattered in this way, the public is hamstrung in its ability to hold police accountable, and law enforcement does not know the limitations of what it can and cannot do. Scattered in such a way, there is no opportunity to debate or discuss which ethical rules police should be required to follow. As a result, both the public and the police are at a disadvantage.
Known and knowable ethical standards would hold police to a higher standard than the general public, and highlight their heightened responsibility in the community. By adopting voluntary, enforceable, publicly disclosed and transparently enforced codes of ethics, law enforcement can take a necessary and substantial step towards being professionals, in the real sense of the word. Part of being a professional is voluntarily giving up some things you might otherwise have a right to do.
Policing is a messy business, often dangerous, and sometimes deadly. Any model code of ethics should reflect these realities, and enhance, rather than detract from, the good work done by good officers everywhere. I've had the honor and pleasure of working alongside good, ethical, and honest cops for the duration of my 20-year career in the criminal justice system. A model code of police ethics would function to strengthen the departments in which they serve and make their jobs safer by improving police-community relationships.
The mechanics of how to make this happen, the creation and implementation of this Model Code of Police Conduct, can be hammered out over time. The Code should be more detailed, certainly, than the broad statements discussed below.
But it's time to begin.
A Modest Proposal
The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) is a member organization of over 20,000 law enforcement officers from around the world, with a staff headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia. The IACP has issued two editions of the Police Chief's Desk Reference, and in the first edition, there was a detailed discussion of ethics, which I reference, here. By the time of that first edition, IACP had developed a draft "Code of Conduct" which, in relevant part as relates to the private conduct of police officers, proposes these sections:
Integrity
...The public demands that the integrity of police officers be above reproach. Police officers must, therefore, avoid any conduct that might compromise integrity and thus undercut the public confidence in a law enforcement agency...
Private Life
Police officers will behave in a manner that does not bring discredit to their agencies or themselves. A police officer’s character and conduct while off duty must always be exemplary, thus maintaining a position of respect in the community in which he or she lives and serves. The officer’s personal behavior must be beyond reproach.
And then, in the suggested Canons of Police Conduct in that same first edition (I've de-masculinized the pronouns):
Article 6. Private Conduct
The law enforcement officer shall be mindful of their special identification by the public as an upholder of the law. Laxity of conduct or manner in private life, expressing either disrespect for the law or seeking to gain special privilege, cannot but reflect upon the police officer and the police service. The community and the service require that the law enforcement officer lead the life of a decent and honorable person. Following the career of a police officer gives no one special perquisites. It does give the satisfaction and pride of following and furthering an unbroken tradition of safeguarding the American republic. The officer who reflects upon this tradition will not degrade it. Rather, they will so conduct their private life that the public will regard them as an example of stability, fidelity, and morality.
Article 7. Conduct toward the Public
The law enforcement officer, mindful of their responsibility to the whole community, shall deal with individuals of the community in a manner calculated to instill respect for its laws and its police service. The law enforcement officer shall conduct their official life in a manner such as will inspire confidence and trust....
By any measure, Lt. Gearhart's twitter comments do not measure up to these ethical standards. Tonight I have requested the General Order on Ethics from the Baltimore Police Department in the hopes of finding out what exactly are the ethical standards asked of the BPD.
Whatever consequences there may be for Lt. Gearhart, we have to keep our eyes on the bigger issues. I commend Commissioner Davis for taking the steps he has thus far.
For those fighting for police reform everywhere, let's get to work on this. Let's add it to our lists. The expertise is out there. We don’t have to wait for a non-profit to get a grant to do it.
My modest proposal:
- We need a detailed model code of ethics for law enforcement; and
- We need to work to persuade every law enforcement agency to voluntarily adopt its standards.
It's part of the puzzle. It's reasonable. It's doable.
So let's pick up this puzzle piece, put it on the table, and get to work.