Detroit police chief disputes claims of unwarranted surveillance of Gaza war protesters
(CBS DETROIT) - The Detroit Police Department is active on social media, especially in the wake of July's block party mass shooting, to try and intercept threats before they cause any potential harm.
However, some have claimed that the department is going too far into surveilling protesters ahead of potential demonstrations over the Israel-Hamas war.
Detroit Police Chief James White refutes those claims, saying he wouldn't categorize this as surveillance, but rather using what information is publicly available on social media to anticipate disruptions or violations of the law. However, a new report by the Detroit Free Press suggests the department has gone much further than social media to monitor people involved in the protests.
"As a general rule, we're not running around surveilling anyone, particularly not protesters," White said.
White says there's a difference between surveillance, and monitoring harmless social media posts.
"I think where the confusion comes in is this notion of surveillance from the standpoint of us watching you because you want to protest. That is absolutely factually incorrect. But if someone were to go into a social media platform that you're going to caravan and block traffic, or that you're going to commit civil infractions or criminal infractions, absolutely, that is something that is going to interest us," he says.
Two Detroit Board of Police Commissioners say monitoring social media accounts in this manner is firmly against their policy.
"To my knowledge, none of that is occurring in Detroit. Police are only allowed to legally get involved with citizens when they have probable cause. In the absence of that, they have no right, at least in my opinion to surveil anyone," said attorney and Detroit Board of Police Commissioner Linda Bernard.
"DPD officers should not be surveilling social media posts. It's definitely a violation in the Detroit Police Department and board's policy," said Commissioner Willie Burton.
The policy reads, "The freedom to speak, dissent, write and publish, and to associate privately and publicly for any lawful purpose, without governmental interference or impairment, is a constitutional guarantee that is to be scrupulously honored by all members of this Department. It is intended that surveillance shall be undertaken only in connection with the police department's law enforcement activities."
The Detroit Free Press obtained documents from the department that it claims contained names, photos, addresses, vehicle information, and social media activity of dozens of people involved in a May protest against the war in Gaza. However, the document doesn't specify if they've committed any infractions according to their article.
Bernard says any infraction that might have resulted in their inclusion in that document could have been as minor as Jaywalking.
"As an attorney, some of the tickets issued in Detroit were things like walking in the street. Give me a break. This is totally inappropriate," she said.
Many of these claims stem from an incident during a protest in May when an officer was suspended after telling a protester to "Go back to Mexico." The department says the officer was referring to a trip that he saw on the protester's social media accounts that she had taken and was suggesting that she should go back on vacation.
The department says the officer will be held accountable if it's found he violated their policy by surveilling someone who is not accused of violating the law.