Here We Go Again: Facebook ‘Burns’ Two More Cops

THENORTHWESTERN.com

CHILTON, WISC.

The Calumet County(WI) Sheriff’s Department released these images of the uniform that was burnt in effigy and pictures of the party that was held at the residence of one of the deputies.

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One sheriff’s deputy resigned while another was demoted to a non-sworn position this month after a Facebook video showed the pair burning a department uniform in effigy.

Calumet County Sheriff Jerry Pagel released the video to the media on Tuesday, which showed the deputies and others burn a stuffed uniform that carried the badge numbers of the sheriff and several other officers. The video also includes derogatory remarks toward the handicapped and a racial slur from another person at the party.

Pagel in a prepared statement said the incident “caused disgrace to our department, to the county and to all law enforcement.”

Deputy Jennifer Bass, a jailer and four-year member of the department, offered her resignation during a meeting on Sept. 10. Wendy Schmitz, an investigative sergeant and a near 12-year veteran, was demoted to a dispatch position. The demotion carries a lower salary and also impacts her pension status, Pagel said.

Neither Bass nor Schmitz could be reached for comment Tuesday.

Both, officials determined, violated a broad department policy prohibiting behavior deemed detrimental to the department.

“This is an embarrassment to the public and to me,” Pagel said Tuesday.

Pagel offered an apology to the community. He said the video is just one example among many of careless use and unintended consequences of social networking Web sites.

The video was shot at a party at Bass’ residence in mid-August. Bass is heard making a reference to the Ku Klux Klan.

The deputies were placed on administrative leave after a person listed among Bass’ Facebook friends brought the video to the attention of a sheriff’s captain.

Department officials began an internal investigation, which led to the Sept. 10 meeting with the officers and a union attorney.

The deputies told officials they burned the effigy as an exercise in stress relief and also out of curiosity into how quickly the uniform would burn. The badge numbers, which were written on sticky notes and affixed to the uniform, represented officers they were frustrated with, Pagel said.

Bass and Schmitz were informed of open records requests for the video, Pagel said, though neither sought court action to block its release before their legal deadline to do so.

Pagel said he held a department-wide meeting to discuss appropriate use of social networking sites.

While the video reflects poorly on the department, its 54 other deputies show “the utmost in professionalism,” he said. They took offense to what they saw.

“We’re going to suffer a little bit from this,” Pagel said, “but we’ll survive.”