Missouri cop fired for racist social media post. He was on the job for barely 2 days
A Pleasant Hill police officer has been fired after barely two days on the job because members of the public found a racist message he posted on social media, according to the local police chief.
After Jacob Smith was sworn in as an officer at a Monday night city council meeting, social media users searched for him online and found a racist meme he posted about a month ago, Pleasant Hill Police Chief Tommy Wright said Wednesday morning.
The post carried a message against Black people, according to Wright’s description. The Star is not publishing the details of what it said.
When Wright became aware of the post, he said, he opened an investigation that night. Smith was suspended with pay after about three or four hours of service following the meeting.
By 1 a.m. Wednesday, Smith was let go from the department, Wright said.
Smith could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday morning.
The hiring process for officers normally consists of drug and psychological testing and a background check that should include searching potential hires’ social media accounts. This time, the police department failed to do so, Wright said.
Officials had completed other steps of the background check, including a public records check, criminal history and courts records checks and searches for images, videos, names and news related to the job candidate.
The city said the error showed issues within Pleasant Hill’s hiring process, which officials hope to fix by communicating expectations clearly, creating checklists so that all steps must be carried out and developing more thorough background checks.
Pleasant Hill is a city of around 8,000 people, about 35 miles southeast of downtown Kansas City.
Moving forward, Wright said, the department will investigate why some steps weren’t followed in the new hire process. They’ll also look for ways to better enforce all background check procedures.
“This was a mistake on our part, and we’ll own that,” Wright said. “We will be more diligent moving forward to ensure that this doesn’t happen again. There’s no place for us to have any kind of bigotry or hate within our ranks and within our community.”
Officials said they understand that the incident will hurt the public’s trust in the police department and city, but they hope to be transparent moving forward as they work to improve the city’s hiring process.
“The police officers, sergeants, and leadership of the Pleasant Hill Police Department work hard every day to provide this community with the safety and protection at the highest level of service,” Mayor John King said in a statement. “These officers are part of this community, and they want their police department to be the pride of this city.”
“Please do not let one individual detract from the work they have accomplished in the last few years to make the Pleasant Hill Police Department what it is today.”
This story was originally published August 16, 2023, 8:45 AM.
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