Hoquiam Police Department needs to take responsibility for mocking Mental Health Situation

The Issue

Mental Health struggles are getting harder and harder, each day. When we call upon law enforcement we expect help not to be judged or mocked, especially in such a public way as social media. 
On 7/8/21 Hoquiam Police Department’s Facebook page (author unknown at this time) posted the following: 

Aberdeen PD is currently at the scene of a shirtless person in crisis atop the superstructure of the Wishkah Bridge.

they then followed up with a post mocking and making fun of the person in crisis. They commented on the “un-graceful swan dive” and “scores of 0-0-0 from hundreds of judges who were stuck in traffic”

A passive aggressive non-apology was issued as an update to the original post, rather than the author taking responsibility for their actions and lack of empathy. Public comments have asked for the Hoquiam Police Department to take responsibility for the post, the post to be removed completely and better monitoring of their Facebook page in the future so that families in crisis can hope their stories aren’t also mocked by those we call upon for help. 

Victory
This petition made change with 249 supporters!

The Issue

Mental Health struggles are getting harder and harder, each day. When we call upon law enforcement we expect help not to be judged or mocked, especially in such a public way as social media. 
On 7/8/21 Hoquiam Police Department’s Facebook page (author unknown at this time) posted the following: 

Aberdeen PD is currently at the scene of a shirtless person in crisis atop the superstructure of the Wishkah Bridge.

they then followed up with a post mocking and making fun of the person in crisis. They commented on the “un-graceful swan dive” and “scores of 0-0-0 from hundreds of judges who were stuck in traffic”

A passive aggressive non-apology was issued as an update to the original post, rather than the author taking responsibility for their actions and lack of empathy. Public comments have asked for the Hoquiam Police Department to take responsibility for the post, the post to be removed completely and better monitoring of their Facebook page in the future so that families in crisis can hope their stories aren’t also mocked by those we call upon for help. 

The Decision Makers

Hoquiam Police Department
Hoquiam Police Department
Responded
I understand the concerns shared by our readers and attempted to correct the post as soon as possible by updating it. I take full responsibility for the post; it was not intended to mock anyone or any situation of a person in crisis in the future. I could detail the situation that afternoon, but any sort of excuse or explanation would just minimize why it is important to NOT send the wrong message in the first place (over social media or otherwise). As a policy, HPD does not delete posts because we do not want to censor or restrict free speech. I apologize for the post and we already working on creating a better way for a checks and balance to our social media interactions. We will always strive to do better. JEFF MYERS, Chief of Police
Mayor Ben Winkleman
Mayor Ben Winkleman
Chief Myers
Chief Myers

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