Disqus - Latest Comments for SpartanCops

Re: Fantino speaks out after personal attack

SpartanCops — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 21:20:53 -0000

Nicely stated by the commissioner! I like when police administrators speak passionately about issues and would like to encourage more of them to do so. Thanks for posting his comments.

Re: 2nd Chance

SpartanCops — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 09:53:16 -0000

I agree that hiding behind a pseudonym so you can spew garbage and cause mayhem abuses the freedom that anonymity provides. I don't condone that behavior at all and share your frustration with it.

I believe that blogs can provide some innovative solutions for law enforcement's many problems. However, many in the police culture don't like change or have a vested interest in keep things the same and use their positional authority to silence change agents. So I believe that having a pseudonym allows officers the practical freedom they need to speak freely.

I have enjoyed this spirited discussion. I think we are closer in opinion than we are far apart. Matt and I post responsible content at Spartan Cops that we hope benefits officers and others in law enforcement. Come visit us and see what you think.

Scott

Re: 2nd Chance

SpartanCops — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 17:10:04 -0000

Off topic discussion: This is a topic we continue to struggle with at our blog and have flipped back and forth about it but finally took what we feel was a middle of the road route. We identify our first names, general location, and some details about our career. We may reveal our names in the future but that is a decision that we can't change and so we want to be sure about it before we do it.

One reason why we don't reveal our whole name is a fear that it will get us fired or affect our assignment in our department. That is the advice we were given before we started blogging and I'm not sure that it is an unrealistic fear.

We feel that the content of our blog gives readers a good indication of our credibility and knowledge. I'm not sure that our full name adds much more to that to someone that doesn't know us personally.

The last main reason we held back our names is for general peace for our families. Unfortunately, everyone does not like poilce officers, and I don't want anyone to flood my wife and kids email and social media accounts with threats and nasty messages. In the past, a criminal I arrested mailed me bullets with a message, Die [my name] Die! So I don't think that is an unrealistic fear either.

What do you think? Why is our name more important than our content?

Scott