California’s Long Beach Police Department launched an investigation regarding one of its officers after he posted a picture of himself holding a baton while standing over bloodied concrete, BuzzFeed News reports.
Officer Jacob Delgado, 26, posted the photo on his Instagram Story and later removed it, but Delgado’s brother re-posted the image and wrote, “Bro getting his,” per BuzzFeed News.
Delgado posted another image of him and two other officers sitting in a police car, flashing the shaka sign. He captioned the image, “Back up, on the way.” Both of their accounts have since been deleted.
Long Beach police officials told the Daily Dot that Delgado “has been removed from patrol pending the outcome of the investigation.”
Public information officer Jennifer De Perez wrote in a statement that officers are required to “use appropriate discretion when posting photographs or speech that may jeopardize investigations or discredit our Department.”
“Upon conclusion of this investigation, disciplinary action will be taken, if necessary,” the statement said.
Chief Robert Luna said that the “images depicted here are very disturbing and are not in line with the high standards we hold our officers accountable for.”
“We will continue to work on re-building our public trust,” Luna said in the statement. “And we ask that the actions of one don’t deter you from the great things we do every day to keep our community safe.”
Councilwoman Jeannine Pearce wrote in a Facebook post that “clearly, our city has failed you.”
“And just like that, they show us who they are,” Pearce wrote. “I am pissed. I am heartbroken and I will not settle for this.”
Pearce told the Los Angeles Times that this incident was an example of why the city needs to change its policing model and encourage the sharing of photos and videos of city employees.
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H/T BuzzFeed News