Old Saybrook police Facebook page goes dark amid 'defaming' posts, chief says

Oct. 21--OLD SAYBROOK -- This small town watched the power of social media as a woman's Facebook post alleging police here "aggressively" questioned her disabled brother went viral, drawing involvement of a Down syndrome advocacy group and bringing an apology to the family from the first selectman.

But as one social media profile gained attention, another disappeared: the Old Saybrook Police Department's Facebook page was shut down mid-week.

Chief of Police Michael Spera took the page offline because "individuals were making meanspirited, rude, defaming, and inappropriate comments to our citizens that had made positive comments months and sometimes a year ago about positive activities that the Department performed for our community," he wrote to police commissioners in an email.

The New Haven Register obtained a copy of the email correspondence through a Freedom of Information request.

Old Saybrook Police Department.

Photo: Helen Bennett / Hearst Connecticut Media file photo

In his email to commissioners, Spera noted the most recent social media posts, some of which he said were not accurate.

"Over the past week our Agency and specific Department Members have been the subject of unwarranted, unprovoked, ill inspired, and defaming social media posts," Spera wrote.

Spera did not return emails seeking comment on the Facebook issue, and First Selectman Carl Fortuna declined comment.

Two board members who responded to Spera's note on the Facebook issue thanked the chief for letting them know about the change; one termed it social media again "run amuck," the correspondence obtained from the town shows.

Messages seeking comment were left with board Chairman Frank Keeney and Vice Chairman Kenneth Reid Wednesday.

Area residents protested in front of the Old Saybrook Department of Police Services on Oct. 15, 2020 concerning an incident involving the Old Saybrook Police Department and a resident with Down Syndrome.

Photo: Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media

But a communications expert said the removal of the Facebook pages takes away a crime-fighting tool as well as an important means of communicating with the public.

Many police departments use social media to share information ranging from crime alerts to suspect descriptions to traffic warnings, said Richard Hanley, an associate professor of journalism at Quinnipiac University.

"Those are important elements of a communications strategy that police departments all over the United States pursue," Hanley said. "By removing their presence they're actually removing a crime-fighting tool because they don't want their feelings hurt, and that's something that I find questionable."

As far as negative comments go, those are part of the "nature of social media," according to Hanley.

"Not all the comments are going to be warranted, not all the comments are going to be accurate, and not all the comments are going to be nice," he said, later adding, "[social media] should be looked at as a tool, and sometimes it's not going to be what you want it to be ... you got to take the good with the bad."

Criticism on social media can also provide important insight on how public agencies of all kinds can do their jobs better, according to Hanley.

"If the public is upset about something and wishes to express displeasure about an event, it serves as a communications tool to help the agency get better," he said.

Frank Glowski, a former police commissioner who says he resigned last spring amid a disagreement with Spera, contends the removal of the Facebook page takes away a forum by which residents can express their concern.

The former commissioner said he also was concerned by the removal because the board's by-laws request that residents do not speak negatively about OSPD employees during public comment portions of meetings.

"Speakers are requested to refrain from presentations that discuss the work performances of specific employees of the Department of Police Services in a negative manner, regardless of whether or not the employee is identified in the presentation by name or by another reference that tends to identify the employee," the by-laws state.

Fortuna provided a copy of the by-laws, which note citizens can submit complaints and commendations to the police department, encouraging those with concerns to bring them to the chief or board chairperson.

Glowski complained about the removal of the Facebook page in an email to Fortuna, according to records obtained via the FOI request.

"After conferring with counsel, the police department does not have the right to screen comments or pick and choose who can comment on a social media page," Fortuna wrote in response. "Taking down the page altogether, while we all may not like it, probably is ok as it doesn't discriminate."

Spera also informed commissioners that he aimed to restore the department's social media presence "using a platform that ensures respectful communication."

The department has declined to release footage of the incident involving the man with Down syndrome that led to the Facebook post.

meghan.friedmann@hearstmediact.com

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