Five deputies in the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office in Ohio are being investigated for allegations of posting offensive tweets while on duty. Two of these officers, Sheriff’s Capt. Thomas J. Flanders and Detective Michael J. Sollenberger, have been placed on administrative leave as of December 1. The names of the other three officers have not yet been revealed.
Sollenberg is a member of the SWAT team and Flanders runs the local jail. According to Sheriff Plummer the officers are being investigated for sending explicitly racist tweets, some of which targeted deputies of color within the department, while on duty.
“The N-word was used several times as well as other racial slurs and jokes,” Plummer said. “Racism will not be tolerated in this office.” Local station WKEF claims to have access to hundreds of pages of text messages which contain jokes that make light of lynchings as well as repeated use of racial slurs.
The investigation began after Dayton NAACP President Derrick L. Foward received an anonymous tip. This led to a three month internal investigation within the department. Attorney Jason Matthews says that the deputies could potentially be fired for the offensive tweets and texts, despite being made on their personal phones. The Department’s code of ethics insists that officers keep their “private life unsoiled as an example to all,” and that they “will never act officiously or permit personal feelings, prejudices, animosities, or friendship to influence my decisions.”
According to Sheriff Plummer, the deputies in question were shocked but unapologetic upon the announcement of the investigation.