Current:Home > MyAfter catching escaped murderer, officers took a photo with him. Experts say that was inappropriate-InfoLens
After catching escaped murderer, officers took a photo with him. Experts say that was inappropriate
View Date:2024-12-23 22:18:38
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A group photo of about two dozen officers in tactical gear posing with escaped murderer Danelo Cavalcante minutes after his capture Wednesday in southeastern Pennsylvania drew criticism from policing reform advocates and some members of the public.
The moment of the photo was captured by a KYW-TV television news helicopter. It showed the officers and federal agents gathered in a half circle around the handcuffed escapee for a photo before loading him into an armored vehicle.
Policing experts said the celebratory moment after the grueling 14-day search for the armed suspect was inappropriate and dehumanizing. But at least one leader of the operation said he wasn’t bothered by it.
When asked about the criticism at a news conference Wednesday, Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens focused on the officer’s hard work under trying circumstances.
“They’re proud of their work,” Bivens said. “I’m not bothered at all by the fact that they took a photograph with him in custody.”
Policing experts said the practice of snapping photos, especially after a successful arrest, is not uncommon but has become more prevalent with the advent of smart phones. While many law enforcement agencies have tried to create conduct guidelines for social media use including barring posts to personal pages while wearing a uniform or from conducting on-duty activities, experts say those rules do not exist everywhere and are inconsistent.
“There’s not standards or uniformity in those policies. What we have here is a galvanizing act that might start a debate,” said Adam Scott Wandt, an associate professor of public policy at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
“From a policing ethics point of view, a police officer taking a picture on the street and putting it on social media or doing it as a celebratory or retaliatory thing is not OK,” Wandt said. “As an attorney, it is an evidentiary problem being created here too. It’s a dangerous practice for a police officer to create evidence on a scene and not properly turn it over to the prosecutor.”
The Pennsylvania State Police has a conduct policy covering the use of social media that prohibits posting or forwarding images of state police investigations or operations, or content that depicts the agency’s uniform, badge or other official department gear without authorization. But it’s unclear if the photo Wednesday would be covered under that policy and a message left for a spokesperson for the State Police was not immediately returned.
Photos of Cavalcante immediately after being arrested, with the police dog pinning him down, circulated widely on social media Wednesday in the hours after the arrest was announced. The photos did not include information about who took them, but they were taken inside the secured perimeter where only law enforcement officers were allowed.
The Associated Press left messages seeking comment about the posed photo from the other agencies involved in the search including the U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Drug Enforcement Administration. A Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives special agent in charge said ATF officers were not part of the arrest and were not involved in the posed photograph.
In recent years, several officers around the country have been disciplined or fired for taking cellphone photos of suspects or during police operations, including one of the Memphis officers who was fired and charged with murder in the beating death of Tyre Nichols in January. In documents submitted to request former officer Demetrius Haley be decertified as a police officer, it was revealed he had taken at least two photos of Nichols after the beating and texted them to at least five other people, against department policy.
For Niles R. Wilson, the senior director of law enforcement initiatives at the Center for Policing Equity and a retired police captain in Newark, New Jersey, these celebratory photos are reminiscent of photos taken during the Civil Rights era depicting police brutalizing people in order to suppress them.
“It is not appropriate. It is not ethical. It’s really inhumane,” Wilson said. “I wish I could give you a reason that this happens. In my law enforcement experience I know how amped up police can get, but that’s not an excuse to mistreat someone.”
Leonard Sipes, who worked for 35 years in public affairs and communications for federal and state law enforcement agencies, and is also a former officer, said he understood the inclination to celebrate after the dangerous and grueling conditions of trying to recapture someone who was armed and dangerous.
“The police had nothing to do with the release of the photo. It was made available by a news source,” Sipes said. “But posing with the suspect, that’s questionable. If I was on the scene as the public affairs officer representing a law enforcement agency, I would have discouraged it.”
veryGood! (99651)
Related
- 'Wanted' posters plastered around University of Rochester target Jewish faculty members
- New COVID variant KP.3 climbs to 25%, now largest in CDC estimates
- The 42 Best Amazon Deals Right Now: $8 Adidas Shorts, $4.50 Revlon Foundation & More Discounts
- Starship splashes down for first time in 4th test: See progression of the SpaceX flights
- NYC bans unusual practice of forcing tenants to pay real estate brokers hired by landlords
- Anchorage police won’t release bodycam video of 3 shootings. It’s creating a fight over transparency
- Stepmom charged after 5-year-old girl’s body is recovered from Indiana river
- Model Trish Goff's Son Nyima Ward Dead at 27
- Princess Kate to host annual Christmas carol service following cancer treatment
- A real nut case: Cold Stone Creamery faces suit over lack of real pistachios in pistachio ice cream
Ranking
- The Daily Money: Mattel's 'Wicked' mistake
- How many points did Caitlin Clark score today? No. 1 pick scores career-high threes in win
- Kristaps Porzingis' instant impact off bench in NBA Finals Game 1 exactly what Celtics needed
- Kia recalls nearly 463,000 Telluride SUVs due to fire risk, urges impacted consumers to park outside
- Trump announces Tom Homan, former director of immigration enforcement, will serve as ‘border czar’
- Florida Sen. Rick Scott says he’ll vote against recreational pot after brother’s death
- Captain Sandy Yawn's Pride Month Message Will Help LGBTQIA+ Fans Navigate Rough Waters
- Tiger shark vomits entire spikey land creature in rare sighting: 'All its spine and legs'
Recommendation
-
Arkansas governor unveils $102 million plan to update state employee pay plan
-
For $12, This Rotating Organizer Fits So Much Makeup in My Bathroom & Gives Cool Art Deco Vibes
-
Today's jobs report: US economy added booming 272,000 jobs in May, unemployment at 4%
-
National Doughnut (or Donut) Day: Which spelling is right? Dictionaries have an answer.
-
Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul referee handled one of YouTuber's biggest fights
-
Detroit Lions lose an OTA practice for violating offseason player work rules
-
E! Readers Can’t Get Enough of This Red Light Mask That Makes Your Skin Glow: Get It Now
-
Inside RuPaul and Husband Georges LeBar's Famously Private Love Story