For the second time in two years, the West Vancouver Police Department has had to discipline an officer after images of a civilian posing with a police issue firearm appeared on social media.
According to a recently released report from the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner, the officer took a young man on an approved ridealong on Nov. 22 last year. The next day, department brass became aware of a photo that had been posted to Instagram featuring the youth in what appeared to be the police department parking lot.
The photograph was of a young man holding a police issued weapon, according to a report from the police watchdog, and included the hashtags #ride along #police #assault and #rifle.
That was deemed "improper use or care of firearms" under the Police Act. For punishment, the officer involved was given "advice" about future conduct and asked to review department policies, sections of the criminal code and other federal legislation that relates to firearms.
The police watchdog signed off on a similar case in November 2012 when an officer allowed a civilian employee to pose for Facebook photos while wearing his gunbelt.
"We do monitor how the department is being referenced in social media. In some cases we've been made aware of things and when we become aware of them, we don't wait for somebody to come complain about it. We initiate professional standards inquiries and it leads from there," said Const. Jeff Palmer, West Vancouver police spokesman, "Your training in professional standards is to always conduct yourself as though somebody is watching. That's probably especially true in a social media environment."
