Arizona police sergeant demoted over Obama photo on Facebook

[Kennah]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-02-28/ariz-officer-obama-facebook/53294478/1

USA Today

An Arizona police sergeant has been demoted and suspended for two weeks without pay for posting a photo of a bullet-riddled image of President Obama on Facebook.

Officials in the Phoenix suburb said Tuesday that Pat Shearer will be demoted to the rank of officer, which means a reduction in pay.

Shearer has 10 days to appeal. The 25-year veteran had been reassigned to administrative duties during the investigation.

The photo on Shearer's Facebook profile showed seven teenagers. Some were holding guns and one was holding what appeared to be a shot-up Obama T-shirt. The image was removed soon after it was posted.

[Dawson Leery]

1. When planning events, the Secret Service has much work

as many in the ranks of local law "enforcement" are right wingers (an hostile to the elected President).

Police must be held to higher standards. They cannot have the power without the responsibility.
Herr Shearer needs to be fired.

[patrice]

2. Some people have lost their jobs for a lot less. At will employment is legalized discrimination. nt

[SunSeeker]

9. Well, it's not like he posed for nude pics of himself--

Like this terrible female officer, who got immediately fired: http://www.policeone.com/legal/articles/2304790-Posing-performing-and-conduct-unbecoming/


You know, because that's so much more harmful than glorifying assassination of our President.

[Lasher]

16. I've heard she's been in films too.

Never seen any of them myself though.

[Ruby the Liberal]

3. What would possess a 25 year LEO veteran to post such a thing?

Unbelievable.

[Lex]

8. You'd think even if he agrees with the sentiment

of the picture, he'd have enough brain cells to realize that it would be a big no-no, given what he does for a living.

Fox News keeps these folks thinking that everyone agrees with them, I guess.

[anti-alec]

10. The meth lab raids must have fried his brain to a point where he has only 2 brain cells to rub

together......

Yeah, time to fire his sorry ass. Demotion won't do any good.

[24601]

26. It really depends on why he posted it. If he said, "Look what these fracking morons did - they need

a long talk with the Secret Service", then no problem.

But if it implied agreement, or the appearance of agreement, then any officer posting that about any president, or non-president for that matter, should be up on charges of bringing discredit on his/her department.

And when it involves any Secret Service protectee, that's just stuck on stupid!

[madinmaryland]

4. The douchebag should have been fired on the spot, and been required to end a long conversation

with the Secret Service.

[47of74]

5. In an ideal world he'd be looking at 25 to life in the nearest supermax

[PavePusher]

27. This "ideal world" you imply....

sounds a lot like North Korea/Orwell's 1984.

No, thank you. Distasteful as this may be, decending to totalitarianism is not the answer.

[Marie Marie]

6. WTF is going on in Arizona?

Seems like a beautiful state with many good people but have all the right wing crazies taken over or what?

[Ruby the Liberal]

7. IMO, It all started with this (depicted as an award winning political cartoon)

Papers, please:

[midnight]

11. I think they have because they are hooked on fear....

[Obamacare]

12. He should've been fired!!

A 25yr vet, what a fucking loser, he must lead a miserable life to do such a thing.

[yurbud]

13. I don't think he should have been fired, but if someone had done the same thing with a photo of Bush

they would be called al Qaeda & be hanging by their scrotum in a kennel in Gitmo within an hour of posting that pic.

[Incitatus]

14. I don't think someone that stupid should have been hired in the first place

I guess there's a lack of intelligence/judgment screening.

[Sirveri]

19. Actually, they won't hire if they score too high on the intelligence test.

Seriously, some guy got turned down for a LEO job because of that and took his department to court over it.

They said it was because the super intelligent would 'get bored'.

[MADem]

21. I saw a few stories about that--they really need to revisit that assertion.

Sometimes, the "super intelligent" are not always the "super motivated." They have a right to a comfort zone as much as anyone else. I wish we'd start hiring smarter police officers--there are too many dumbasses in blue out there. The good ones have to take the heat for those idiots.

[quakerboy]

31. They don't want them thinking too much

If a LEO starts thinking too much, they might not feel so good about some of the laws they are asked to enforce. They might not want to cover up the actions of someone like Tony Bologna. They might even stand with a protest, or refuse to jail people purely based on skin color or unfounded assertions. They might even feel bad about some things. And thats bad for business.

[MADem]

32. Well, see, to me (and I am sure others) that'd be a feature--not a bug--in the system!

I like brains behind decisions--it generally makes them better ones.

[quakerboy]

33. I would tend to think so as well

However, people who think that way do not appear to be running the system, nor holding the power in any major city, state, or federal government position.

[yurbud]

24. they should show recruits photos like that and see how they react

that would be a pretty good indication of how they want to deal with people they disagree with and/or aren't like them.

[24601]

25. Or they'd get praise for the mocumentary, "Death of a President."

[yurbud]

30. that got little or no praise here. It was a stupid idea not just because

it is morally wrong, but Bush was clearly the puppet of larger interests, and it's doubtful Cheney would have done the job any differently (except maybe worse).

Progressives actually think beyond the knee jerk reactions of the right. I wonder if the nitwits who made that target stopped to think, ''Hey, if we did kill him, would we be happier with Biden as president?'' or ''This won't change the ideological trends in America?''

[PavePusher]

28. Surely you can cite to such an incident,yes?

There's plenty of stuff to legitimately criticize without resorting to invention and hyperbole.

[Tripod]

15. K&R

[davidthegnome]

17. Hard to believe anyone could be that stupid

He's lucky he doesn't work in my area, I'm almost 100% positive he would've been fired for sheer stupidity. Seriously, what kind of moron posts that crap on facebook?

[The Wizard]

18. Packing heat and

hiding behind a badge requires neither brains nor guts.

[MADem]

20. Suspended? He should have been fired.

It's not a First Amendment issue--it's an issue of simple, basic judgment. He is --and should be WAS--a law enforcement officer, and thus should be held to a higher standard.

[Poll_Blind]

29. Absolutely. nt

PB

[stonecutter357]

22. K&R...

"to protect and to serve"