Police officers are hired to protect and serve. They are the people trusted to keep the community safe and free of danger. But what happens when officers of the law don’t live up to what’s expected of them?
According to CNN, an officer in Indiana is currently under investigation for posts on his Facebook page. Chris Pestow, a state trooper, posted comments and photos that were called “embarrassing and maybe even against the law.” Over the past several months Pestow bragged about drinking heavy liquor and not really doing much work. In his Facebook statuses, he boasted about being unproductive at work and his updates were at times that he was scheduled to be working.
On his page, Pestow also discussed an incident where Fresno police officers punched a homeless man during his arrest. And his response was, “Let someone, homeless or not, try and stab me with a pen, knife, spoon, etc., not only will he fall, he’ll probably end up shot. These people should have died when they were young anyway. I’m just doing them a favor.”
Not only does he take advantage of his power, he blatantly disrespects law enforcement and the people he’s supposed to protect. He also has a photo on his page of a fellow officer, Andrew Deddish, pointing a .357 Magnum at his head. In the picture Pestow is smiling with his thumb up.
How can an officer do their job efficiently if they are busy getting drunk and posting it on Facebook?
This kind of behavior leads to harassments and unfair arrests toward people who don’t deserve it. I’ll pass on that kind of security.
Skyy Sandifer for the Editorial Board.