Maryland's highest court held on Thursday that records stemming from complaints against police officers are exempt from public disclosure. The ruling comes as Anne Arundel police and community leaders have been working to shed light on such complaints.
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) A Philadelphia police officer was arrested by the Department s Internal Affairs Division as part of a vandalism investigation.
The Philadelphia District Attorney s Office has charged Officer Ryan Perez with two counts of disorderly conduct, one count of criminal mischief, and one count of public drunkenness.
Police said the incident occurred on December 7, 2019, but did not go into any further details.
The 30-year-old officer has been on the force five years and was most recently assigned to the 25th District.
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw has suspended Officer Perez for 30 days with the intent to dismiss at the end of that time.
“The Internal Affairs Division immediately opened an investigation into the officer’s social media usage. During an initial review of his social media platforms, a second social media post was discovered causing more concern,” the department said.
#Breaking: This @PGPDNews Officer is suspended for violating department social media policies. Interim Chief Hector Velez says, “I fully support an officer’s first amendment rights, however these posts are in violation of the department’s social media policy.” @nbcwashingtonhttps://t.co/RJSRB5G0mxpic.twitter.com/0Za7glEYax Tracee Wilkins (@TraceeWilkins) January 12, 2021
“I fully support an officer’s first amendment rights, however these posts are in violation of the department’s social media policy… I don’t condone any inflammatory posts by any officer that would tarnish the reputation of the men and women who do this work admirably each day, or cause the community to lose trust in us,” Velez said.
Philadelphia police detective Jennifer Gugger attended the 'Stop the Steal' rally in Washington D.C. that transformed into a deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol. The Internal Affairs Bureau is investigating whether Gugger participated in the insurrection. She has been reassigned from her role while the investigation plays out.