Talkin’ Tracy
Editor’s Note: Talkin’ Tracy is a periodic feature, written by a City of Tracy employee or offical. It is meant to insipre conversation and answer questions Tracy residents may have.
When I became a licensed police officer back in 1993 I barely knew what the internet was let alone what it would become.
Today it’s in our lives all day, every day. We shop online, pay our bills, connect with family, check the weather, find entertainment and news just by picking up our phones or opening a laptop. The internet is an unlimited source of information, accessible with just a touch of the screen. Along with this also come threats to all of us. People using multiple techniques to scam us out of money, get our personal information, groom children, post fake news & misinformation, online extortion, psychological manipulation in online gaming, cyberbullying & harassment and deep fakes & manipulated media.
These are all reoccurring calls law enforcement of today deals with, but what about when it’s law enforcement that is under attack?
I am a huge believer in the United States Constitution and The Bill of Rights. The right to free speech is the First Amendment for a reason; it is that important.
However what if the speech getting put online is wrong, misleading, hateful or threatening? If it’s an individual doing it against another individual there are protections for that through the courts with harassment restraining orders, but what about when they attack a government agency, a public figure or a civil servant?
I have learned first-hand over the last year or so what it is like to be under the attack of keyboard complainers, fake news, generated slander and basically just online nuisances. I’m not the only one. It’s happening to police departments and officers everywhere. Law Enforcement has never been a job where you will be able to satisfy a 100% of the people you deal with.
Online attacks on government agencies or public servants are a bit different. If one person calls another person out on Facebook or another social media platform the other person can respond in that same public forum if they choose.
However, when it’s a governing agency or public servant under attack, they cannot make public statements about individuals, add corrections to the details that are left out, disclose personal information or say anything about the character of the party making accusations. This makes public servants easy targets because the person behind the keyboard knows the accusations will be unanswered.
So getting answers is not their purpose, so what is? My perception is so they can spread information. However the information they spread is one sided, just an opinion, and sometimes completely wrong. The persons behind the keyboards may think that they have all the answers. But do they actually know what really took place, or is it just their perception?
Many times I believe they are looking for someone who views things the same way they do. It’s not that the person behind the keyboard is lying in some circumstances, they just don’t know what really happened and are relaying their side of the story and pushing it as fact. However, there are always two sides to a story.
Sometimes I find the postings humorous, but they are only humorous to me because I know both sides of the story; the publisher only knows one side. Mostly, I find the postings concerning. The amount of government time that gets wasted on them is not productive to the City.
The dedication of the majority of public servants goes way beyond the minimal amount of compensation they receive and these are the people who interrupt their daily lives to help others, people they may not even know. My fear is students seeing the online criticism will not want to become first responders or want to serve their communities and it will become harder and harder to fill those needed positions.
So how do we get the keyboard complainers to stop?
Your guess is as good as mine. There is always going to be someone out there that thinks they know better than us and feel the need to type it to the world. When one person stops, another seems to pop up and try to become the next loud voice.
One surprising outcome of the recent attacks against law enforcement is the amount of supportive comments I have received. People lately are telling me “thank you for your service,” “I appreciate that you do what you do,” and complimenting our departments here in town more than ever.
In the past, I have thought, well, I was just doing my job, but thanks. Recently it’s been a reassurance that it is not a totally thankless job. To those who have made such comments to me, and the city, know I am happy to serve.
