To:
Mt. Lebanon Police Chief Aaron Lauth
Mt. Lebanon Commissioner Mindy Ranney
Mt. Lebanon Commissioner Steve Silverman
Mt. Lebanon Commissioner Leeann Foster
Mt. Lebanon Commissioner Craig Grella
Mt. Lebanon Commissioner Andrew Flynn
Date:
April 2021
Dear Chief Lauth and Mt. Lebanon Commissioners,
This is an open letter requesting a copy of the Mt. Lebanon Police Department’s Policy regarding Police Personnel and Social Media Activities.
No doubt, you know from recent news stories that police officers from Pittsburgh and around Allegheny County were exposed as participating in a Facebook group called “The Pittsburgh Area Police Breakroom”. In this online space, some expressed transphobic and racist sentiments. AP News published an article on March 22 titled, “Transphobia, Hostility about Protesters in Private Cop Group,” which describes the troubling posts.
This event begs the question: what is the policy in our hometown regarding officers and their social media usage? As part of their reporting, the AP contacted smaller police departments and found many either did not have policies or had vague policies that would be difficult to practically implement. We ask that you share the policy currently being followed by the Mt. Lebanon Police Department.
A simple search on the internet for “Pittsburgh Police Policy Manual” brings the public to their document entitled, “City of Pittsburgh Police: Manual of Procedural Orders”. This document allows community members to easily search and retrieve the Pittsburgh Police Department’s social media policy. It is our fervent hope that the Mt. Lebanon Police Department is prepared to provide this level of transparency as they undertake policy reviews. Such easy access to policies fosters public trust. We urge you to consider following this model, negating the need for individual requests such as these.
Thank you for your consideration of this request. Please forward the policy or any questions related to this request to our email address below. We plan to share that policy with our membership.
Sincerely,
Mt. Lebanon Organization for Racial Equity | M.O.R.E
Email: SteeringCommittee@LeboFightsRacism.com
Website: LeboFightsRacism.com
This PDF version of the letter was emailed to its recipients at 4pm on the 20th of April, 2021. While M.O.R.E awaits their reply, community members and their constituents are encouraged to reach out to their commissioner to ask them to fulfill this request or even ask for their own copy of the policy.
