Police Upset Over Social Media Posts That Target Officers
(CBS) -- Is it free speech or a threat? Some current and former police officers are outraged about pages on one social media site that seem to encourage the killing of officers.
CBS 2's Dana Kozlov takes a look at them and at what the site is doing about it.
They state things like, 'cop lives don't matter', on group pages called things like "cop killer." Facebook pages that seem to advocate violence against officers of the law have intensified since the police-related deaths in Ferguson, Missouri and New York City.
"I just think it is really sad," said Cook County Sheriff First Deputy Dana Wright.
Many current and former police officers are upset by the Facebook posting. Some have even reached to Facebook asking them why it's allowed.
One retired officer received a response from Facebook which stated the group wasn't removed because it didn't violate Facebook's community standards.
"It does concern me that pages are allowed to be put on Facebook that advocate violence in any arena," Wright said.
Groups have popped on Facebook protesting pages such as those. One page, we couldn't even view today, indicating Facebook has pulled some of them.
But the bigger issue, says Wright, is continuing to foster positive relationships between officers and the public, training and, from her perspective, making sure her officers go home at the end of their shift.
Late this afternoon, a Facebook spokesperson told CBS 2 they changed their initial response and, since yesterday, have taken down more than one page advocating violence against police officers. That spokesperson says employees determined they violated Facebook's community standards after all.