I'm curious what you, good Lincolnites, would do to the three prison guards who were suspended for recent Facebook posts. The skinny is this: One guard gloated about "smash[ing] an inmates [sic] face into the ground", and two other guards applauded his efforts. Word of the posts made it to Ernie Chambers, then to Attorney General Jon Bruning, and then to the Department of Correctional Services.
Unfortunately I haven't found the full text of all of the posts. Without that -- and without knowing for sure what happened on the day in question -- it's tough for me to come to any conclusions. So instead I'll speak generally. As the title of this post states, I don't like to trust power to those who crave it; nor do I trust power to those who gloat over its exercise, which is what happened here. Abuse of power concerns me as a citizen, and as a taxpayer who has to foot the bill if a power tripper gets sued. The best soldiers and police officers are modest and humble. Those who would react with glee about assaulting somebody for whom they are responsible -- even if the assault is justified by the circumstances -- cannot be trusted with the responsibility of protecting the public.
I suppose that makes it pretty clear what I think should happen to the initial poster. I'm less certain about the fate of the other two guards.
Do you have enough information to decide what you think? What would cement your opinion about these officers' punishments and future as employees of the State?
Comments
See what your friends and neighbors have to say about this.
I think the original poster should be fired and punished, partially for just being so stupid.
Even if - and it’s a colossal IF - there was a justified reason (like self-defense, etc.) for a guard to hit (or smash the face of) an inmate - why would you chalk that up to being a good day, but more importantly, why would you ever say such a thing in a public forum?
It’s one thing if the guard and his buddies have a high-five (which I still think is wrong), but this was just beyond stupid. I feel no sorrow for the original poster.
Without context, I have nothing to say about the other two guys.
Fletch, they didn’t say it in a public forum. It was posted on Facebook accounts that were marked as private, and the article states that there is uncertainty if this goes against the guidelines that are imposed on the employees.
I think that sometimes we, as a society, are a bunch of high pitched divas when it comes to other’s venting. Is there documentation that there was force or was this an employee simply letting off some steam from his job? Actions speak louder than words and unless the state can show that this man actually went beyond his job duties and broke rules; either to a prisoner or by posting a private facebook page, this shouldn’t even be made public.
I don’t think of myself as a diva. I don’t have a lot of sympathy for inmates at all. I don’t want to know what goes on there on a daily basis.
In this day and age, I’d consider Facebook to be a public forum. Even if it was set to the strictest of viewers, clearly somebody did see it and turned the guy in.
Let me make my point more clear. I think this guy is guilty of being stupid for posting it, moreso than I have an opinion about it in any other way. Without knowing the whole story, I can’t judge.
Maybe the guy was being funny and didn’t even do anything. Lord knows I love to post snarky and smart-ass comments. However, that was a stupid thing to post. That’s all I was trying to say. Mega stupid.
I love to be a smart ass. But I wouldn’t run through an airport and crack jokes about a bomb. In that case, not funny. I think the same holds true here - if you’re in that kind of a position, you shouldn’t even joke (if it was) about that stuff. And if something did happen, it’s even dumber to post it.
Only if the State themselves went digging and found a way to circumvent Facebook’s ‘security’could I see your argument as having any merit, Stacy. The only private FB profile/page is a non-existent one. If someone else friended to one of these guys saw it and brought it to the Personnel dept, then it was as good as public and that is all that was necessary. If they had said as much in the presence of someone official the same result would occur, and since screenshots were probably taken, they may as well have shouted it from the rooftops.
Share your thoughts with the community.
Commenting is no longer permitted on this post.