Review One of the Articles from the New York Times and Summarize and Share Your Thoughts with the Group

In Yet Another Vermond Police Chief Quits Over Fake Social Media Accounts, Maria Cramer Details an odd occurrence in Burlington, Vermont in which the the Chief of Police, Brandon del Pozo, was forced to resign after a local reporter discovered anonymous Twitter account which was created to criticize a city resident who had his own blog which has been critical of the department. Chief del Pozo was replaced by the Deputy Chief of Police, Jannine Wright as Mr. del Pozo’s successor. Shortly after Ms. Wright was appointed, she confessed to the mayor that she had also created two anonymous Facebook accounts which were used to criticize the city resident who was the target of former police chief del Pozo’s Twitter account, as well as city councilors. She was demoted to her previous position of Deputy Police Chief the same day she confessed and later put on administrative leave.

Being that Mr. del Pozo and Ms. Wright likely worked closely together and Chief and Deputy Chief of Police, one might assume that they were aware of each other's actions on social media. I would hope that after these two resignations, that the city created (if not already in place) a social media policy. Those that work with the public, as we do in higher education, need to understand that people will often be critical of their work, that comes with the territory. It is never acceptable, even anonymously, to use social media to attack members of the public who may disagree with your institution’s policies.

Cramer, M. (2020, February 11). Yet Another Vermont Police Chief Quits Over Fake Social Media Accounts. Retrieved February 16, 2020, from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/11/us/burlington-police-jan-wright-twitter.html