An Indiana state trooper is under investigation for postings on a social networking Web site in which he refers to himself as a “garbage man,” calls those he arrests “trash” and brags about heavy drinking.
State police Maj. Carlos Pettiford told television station WTHR that the agency was looking into whether Trooper Chris Pestow’s Facebook posts violated department policy and whether he used the site on state time.
“When they’re working, that’s exactly what they’re supposed to be doing is working, not playing or writing on the Internet unless it’s for department business,” Pettiford said.
Some of the entries showed Pestow with a .357 Magnum pointed at his head and drinking beer with friends. He also posted pictures of a crash involving his police cruiser and wrote that a person who resists arrest and threatens police officers would “probably end up shot.”
“These people should have died when they were young anyway,” he wrote.
Indianapolis police officials also are investigating one of the city’s officers who is shown pointing a gun at Pestow in one of the photos.
“We’re trained (that) we don’t point firearms at anything we don’t plan to shoot,” said Sgt. Paul Thompson, an Indianapolis police spokesman.
Pestow did not respond to WTHR’s requests seeking comment. No phone listing for him was available. His Facebook page had been removed on Wednesday.
Pettiford said state police are drafting a policy for posting information on personal Web pages.
“These are new times,” he said. “We didn’t have Facebook when I got into law enforcement, but nowadays it’s out there, so we’re putting together a policy.”
___
Information from: WTHR-TV, http://www.wthr.com/
