JACKSON, Wyo. — Fallout from careless commentary made by the Jackson Police Department on its regular blotter report, posted to Facebook, continues to cause concern for the department and highlight a need for continued dialogue about the handling of sexual assault in the community.
From “teachable moment” to “outrageous and inexcusable,” the incident has elicited intense reaction with some. The Jackson Police Department began receiving criticism after including controversial humor in a police blotter post about a juvenile having sex with an adult. The original blotter post made light of a serious matter.
After the post was live for a few days, it was removed and an apology was issued by the Jackson Police Department, stating, “Like everyone, we sometimes make mistakes. We learn from those and strive to do better.”
Lt. Roger Schultz, who writes the narrative blotter, had stated on numerous occasions the intent to editorialize crime reports was to humanize the department and officers in general. If fallible is considered among the top human traits, Schultz succeeded in displaying that.
However, the apology wasn’t enough for the local group, Act Now JH, which has been looking into “defunding the police”, or more accurately, redistribute funding throughout the department. They responded sternly in a letter to the town and police department regarding the post.
“This incident should not be seen as a mistake, but rather the outcome of a culture that finds this behavior funny and acceptable,” Act Now JH’s letter said. “JPD’s apology fails to acknowledge the depth to which the original post is harmful to both the victim and community survivors of sexual assault.”
The group would like to see more accountability and expressed that the blotter posts are unnecessary all around.
More recently, the town manager of Jackson released his own statement regarding the incident.
“The Town of Jackson and its staff want to be a part of the solution,” Larry Pardee wrote. “We are starting to see how systemic these issues are, and even before this incident, the Town was in discussion with the Jackson Hole Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Collective about leading dialogues and trainings. We intend to work with this local group and professional diversity and inclusion consultants, to help our entire town team understand systemic issues of bias and privilege and the cultural constructs that perpetuate them.”
Town council candidates Jessica Sell Chambers and current mayor Pete Muldoon have also criticized the callous remark, calling for reform and retraining within the agency.
The incident comes at a difficult time for the police department. As calls for reform and defunding law enforcement sweep the nation, pressure in Jackson has also been evident to take a hard look at the local cop shop. In addition, the long-serving Chief of Police Todd Smith is retiring in three days. Sgt. Michelle Weber was named interim chief.
