Police review board wants highway patrol to investigate officer’s social media use
The Columbia Citizens Police Review Board voted Wednesday night to recommend that the interim city manager have the Missouri State Highway Patrol investigate a police officer’s social media use.
“I don’t like that the Columbia Police Department is policing them own selves [sic],” said board member Cornellia Williams.
Lieutenant Brian Tate was placed on paid leave Jan. 3 following scrutiny of his social media activity.
Acting Police Chief Jill Schlude said she has also directed Lieutenant Paul Dickinson to audit any internal investigations involving racial profiling or other bias complaints that Tate may have completed during his time with Internal Affairs Unit.
“I’ve been in charge of Internal Affairs long enough that I take all complaints seriously,” she said. “I am not naive enough to believe police officers don’t make mistakes. I look at it very neutrally.”
She pointed out that officers working in the Internal Affairs Unit do not make determinations.
“The Internal Affairs investigator doesn’t get to say ‘I think they did it, I think they didn’t do it,'” she said.
Dickinson is also conducting the investigating into Tate’s social media use.
She told the board that Dickinson will be free of bias because he has never worked with or worked for Tate.
“I purposefully picked someone that I felt could be very independent,” she said.
ABC 17 News confirmed Tate’s Twitter has gone private, and his handle has changed.
Sources told ABC 17 News about specific posts from Tate’s Twitter account that were published in the media, including a tweet that made derogatory comments about a homeless person wearing a trash bag. In another, he supposedly shamed woman for wearing a “sexy” Halloween costume.
Schlude said she found out about the incidents on Dec. 31 after receiving an email from a news outlet. She said by the afternoon of Jan. 3 she had made the decision to put Tate on leave.
Seven members of the police review board were at Wednesday night’s meeting. Two members abstained and two others were not present for the vote.
The board can only make recommendations, so the vote will head to the interim city manager for consideration.
In the meantime, Schlude said Glascock has directed them to do a quick but thorough investigation.
“Interim City Manager Glascock has made it clear he doesn’t want it to take any longer than it needs to but it needs to happen thoroughly,” she said.
