Tupelo Officer Terminated Following Social Media Post

TUPELO ( WCBI) – A Tupelo officer is out of a job following a social media post.    A Tupelo Police Department statement released Wednesday announced the firing  but the department did not release his name at this time because of confidentiality issues but WCBI has confirmed the officers name is John Bingham.

Below is the complete statement from the department.

“City of Tupelo employees are free to express themselves as private citizens on social media sites to the degree that their speech does not impair working relationships – especially in the Tupelo Police Department, for which loyalty and confidentiality are important – impede the performance of duties, impair discipline and harmony among coworkers or negatively affect the public perception of the City, including the Police Department.

As public employees, City of Tupelo workers should realize that speech on- or off-duty that owes its existence to the employee’s professional duties and responsibilities is not protected speech under the First Amendment. The officer should have assumed that his speech and related activity on social media sites would reflect upon his office, the Tupelo Police Department and the City of Tupelo.

This officer’s remarks in no way reflect the philosophy of the City of Tupelo, which is demonstrating through its six working committees the City’s resolve to address needs that have been identified within the city government through a series of meetings with various civic groups to discuss best practices for moving the City forward in a cohesive, inclusive manner.

While the City of Tupelo encourages its citizens and employees to voice their opinions in matters of importance to them, such statements must be made responsibly and in a manner that does not jeopardize the public safety in the City of Tupelo.”

WCBI has located a  Facebook post made October 3rd by Bingham which references the Police Department administrators and challenges the Mayor, City Council and the Citizen Review Board to wear body cameras to record any interaction they have with the public that involves the Police department.

Below is the  complete transcript of that post made by Bingham.

FACEBOOK POST TRANSCRIPT

“This makes me laugh as administrators who haven’t been on patrol in over 10 years pass out body cameras and Verbal Judo books.  I laugh as they talk about “how they know how it is on patrol”  these cats never had an in car camera, much less their entire day taped and under review. They never knew the public out cry of Black Lives Matter. I hope I never forget where I came from!
To many Police Administrators forget about life on patrol. Thugs speak a foreign language. I happen to be fluent in their lingo. “Sir is there anything I can say to you to convince you to step away from the gun” , “Sir is there any way I can convince you to stop hitting me in the face”  that BS doesn’t work in my beat Mr. Mayor, Chief of Police, City Council. Sometimes you have to use profanity and threaten a persons well being to get their attention; sometimes you have to kill them. I am telling you this because I wouldn’t  expect you know anything about my job. You are placed in your position of power by a popularity contest called the democratic process. I believe in that process, but that doesn’t mean you are qualified for the job! You elected officials and police administrators  watch the news, and  read a report or two. But when heart rates are elevated and law enforcement officer are fighting off tunnel vision and making quick decisions you are at home in bed. You get to come to the office, pull up your chair and review video and Monday Morning Quarterback the people out there getting their hands dirty! I doubt many of you have ever been in a physical altercation in your lives.

Police work in America is changing for the worst every single day.  Everyone is scared of
offending someone and scared to death to tell them they are wrong  in their actions or to adjust their schedule if they are offended! Just last week men from a local church in Tupelo, who have been coming to the Police Dept. EVERY SINGLE MORNING FOR MONTHS AT 5am,  to pray for ALL THE OFFICERS well being were ask by Police Administrators to conduct their prayers in a separate part of the building. This was done because it offended 1 officer out of 110 man department. Instead of the admin telling that 1 officer to leave after briefing was concluded ADMIN had everyone else at the department move to a separate part of the building for prayer after briefing.

I hate to think about the next 15 years I have to do in Law Enforcement. I didn’t sign up to beg people to do things that’s required of them by law. I was trained to ASK, TELL, and MAKE  someone comply with my commands as a law enforcement  officer. This crap of begging people to comply is not how I am going to respond to the public and I strongly suggest to any and all officers wearing a body camera to not be intimidated by their administration and  to do your job.  Statistics  show officers who wear a body camera are more likely to be injured in the line of duty because they are reluctant to act first to aggression fearing repercussions from Police Administrators.

I think these cameras are just a current issue that people think is a “fix all” to any problem they might have with law enforcement. I would personally like to see City Council Members, Police Administrators, the Mayor, and the Citizen Review Board members be issued these same cameras. If officers must record any enforcement action I think it’s only fair these people judging us should be required to record any interaction with the public they have that involves the Police Dept.”

WCBI will have the latest on this developing story as it becomes available.