Those who claim that racism, sexism, and homophobia run rampant in the San Francisco Police Department got some high-powered ammunition last week. Videos posted on the Web showed police officers participating in outrageous acts – an embarrassment for the city and a strong demonstration of how technology is reshaping society
Although the videos have been taken down from their original site, they still exist elsewhere on the Web. In a lame attempt to be funny, the footage shows officers ogling a woman stopped for a traffic violation, an African American officer eating out of a dog bowl, and an officer dressed as a transgendered person wiggling his tongue towards a police captain.
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom held a press conference to denounce the digital dirt. “It is shameful. It is offensive. It is sexist. It is homophobic, it is racist, and we’re going to make sure it ends,” he said.
It’s nice to see the mayor taking a break from his wasteful quest to foist a government-run Internet on every man, woman and child in San Francisco. Real concerns, such as a disrespectful and unprofessional culture among city police, call for fixing and fortunately have been exposed by the largely unregulated Internet. In fact, the creator himself posted the damning data.
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