WASHINGTON — Several police chiefs around the country were quick to rebuke President Trump for suggesting it would be OK for officers to rough up someone who has just been arrested. Most of those statements were also published on departmental social media accounts, including in Annapolis, where Police Chief Scott Baker said the president’s words “do not help build trust between citizens and police.”
But the city’s mayor disapproved of the police chief’s statement.
Annapolis Mayor Mike Pantelides met with Baker personally and also emailed all city employees, reminding them not to “post anything whether it’s positive or negative about the president or national politics.”
Pantelides argues that doing otherwise will “distract us from our core mission of serving the citizens of Annapolis,” while adding that he is not a fan of “having to read through over 120 comments on Facebook and deal with the blowback from this.”
The mayor later elaborated in a statement to WTOP, saying it’s “not about violating anyone’s First Amendment rights,” but rather “a policy of not bringing politics into our offices.”
Pantelides notes people living in Annapolis carry a wide range of political beliefs and that the city does not “need to support or deny the works of any political party.”
The Facebook post with Baker’s statement remains on the police department’s page. The mayor’s office also reiterated that city employees are free to post any political statements they want to on their own time and using their own personal social media accounts.
Below is the Annapolis Police Department’s Facebook post:
