Doxing

I’m writing this not to inflame or prolong a debate but to finish my part of one. As well, I know I’m a social media light weight. So anyone who doesn’t agree with my thoughts are welcome to simply ignore me. I don’t expect to change anyone’s mind. And I’m not even writing this to tell someone else that they are wrong to feel the way they do. It would be arrogant of me to think I wield that kind of power. But I also know too many people whose lives have been, and continue to be, in the field of law enforcement, to simply sit quietly at the suggestion that our law enforcement agencies can’t be trusted.

I write this all in relation to the subject of doxing people via social media. This has most recently come up in the white supremacist march last weekend. And, to be clear, I have no sympathy for any white supremacist. Those individuals sicken me and I don’t believe they have earned any place in a civilized society.

My concern through all this is the idea of the general public sharing screen grabs of these individuals with the goal of publicly sharing their personal information for all to see. And again, that concern isn’t based on any feelings of sympathy for the racist people being called out. The concern is for the misidentifications that can, and have, occur. Innocent lives can potentially be ruined or, in a worst case scenario, ended, all based on a similar appearance to an individual from a screen grab. My thought was, and remains, if you think you know one of these people, inform law enforcement, and let them investigate the matter further… privately… out of the public eye.

I’ve previously shared that concern and, in a civil Facebook discussion, I’ve had several people disagree with my thoughts. Fair enough, I’m alright with that. But the troubling part of it all, for me, is hearing others saying they can not trust the police to do the right thing in regards to these potential hate crimes. That people are better off outing these individuals via twitter than informing the police that they may know a potential suspect of said hate crimes.  And I’m concerned with the thought that if a few people happen to be misidentified, well that’s the price to pay for the greater good and their lives won’t be drastically affected anyway (an idea that none of us actually know to be true).

And it is this lack of trust in law enforcement that bothers me the most from these discussions. The fact is, I work directly with law enforcement. I’m not a police officer but I work with many. I’m related to several police officers. I consider several more officers to be friends. And in my work, I interact directly with dozens of police officers from many different police agencies throughout North America.

By no means am I saying law enforcement in North America is a perfect thing. I understand and believe that there is work to be done in both the United States and Canada to better the relationship between police and racial minorities.

But I can say with confidence, due to fourteen years of experience working with many of these people, if my goal is to get it right. To not make the mistake of misidentifying an innocent person and to be part of a just society, I would trust sharing information regarding potential criminals with the police 100% over sharing the same information with the multitude via twitter.

The great majority of those working in law enforcement are good people. They’re trying to help society and are trained specifically in order to keep us safe.  They have resources at their disposal that far surpasses the world of Twitter and they are trained to use them. And, bottom line, they have willingly put themselves in harms way, willing to sacrifice themselves for the greater good.  These people deserve our respect.

That’s it, I don’t hold any ill will towards those who feel differently during our discussion. A difference of opinion is okay and, when given respectfully, as has been my experience these last few days, these differences are good and make us consider and think more completely about complex issues.  Plus these are disagreements among people on the same side of the bigger issue. None of us support these racial supremacists.

I just felt that, if I said nothing, I’d be doing a disservice to dozens of people I have worked with, as well as several people I consider my friends and several others who are part of my family.