Front Page  »  

SLO Police seeks assistance over Facebook post

December 30, 2014
Steve Gesell

Steve Gesell

The San Luis Obispo Police Department has asked the FBI to investigate a Facebook post the department determined poses a threat to local officers and their families. [Tribune]

On Dec. 23, a San Luis Obispo resident posted his anger at officers on Facebook. A New York resident read the post and informed the San Luis Obispo Police Department.

“Death to all cops and their families! Burn them alive,” the person posted on Facebook.

Police responded by asking the FBI to investigate. The investigation is ongoing.


Loading...
Subjects:         
Related:


39 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

The clues just keep coming in, you are being monitored. If you are dumb enough to be involved with facebook you deserve what you get. Get a clue sheep, you are lining up for slaughter by using online social media.


0

Oh, what terrible webs we weave…


The ramping up of the police state… causes some citizenry to resist… which causes a ramping up of the police state…


We’re creating this together. All of us. Most of us just do not see it.


0

If I had a permit to carry a concealed weapon, taser, mace, plus combat training, a citation book, handcuffs, address confidentiality, good neighbors and good support of the public, then any mental case or deranged wacko that had the balls to stalk me and pull something stupid more likely gonna get it because I would be trained and ready.


Also I have a suspicion that whoever posted on the web is someone that also post here.


Admittedly I have lived here for 26 years, I and my family, neighbors and friends have never been harassed or mistreated. SLOPD are quick when you need them and as far as I have seen, some pretty damn good and efficient people. My bad mouthing are usually related to my past experience with LE out of the area and CHP (Use to be pretty good but now just a bunch of AH).


0

The SLOPD has changed a lot in the past 10 years. When I was a kid, it was maybe 20-30 officers and we knew many of them by name. There was a fight downtown last night, and I there were 20-30 police officers ON LOCATION simply for that fight. They had 9 police vehicles.


0

What a joke. This is all about PR for Gesell.


0

The Tribune also stated “Local police agencies routinely find posts they consider threatening online, but what set this incident apart was the mention of officers’ families and attacks against police officers in recent days.”


Gesell then followed procedures and turned this “internet” threat over to the FBI to investigate–it’s their jurisdiction.


What the heck is wrong with that?


PR for Gesell? Really? You’re the joke, SamLuis.


0

Stop being so naive. Why is this news? If Gesell truly had a concern about others, this would never had made the paper. The FBI would have been summoned, they would have come in and done what they do and they would have done it without chatting-up the Tribune.


That’s not what happened. While there might possibly be a safety factor to this whole matter there’s definitely a publicity factor — for Gesell and possibly the SLOPD.


0

Au contraire. The police should hide information from the public? No way. We already have the California State Health Department hiding information on infectious diseases (if it might endanger a fragile population). The Sheriff’s Department and the local Highway Patrol won’t report that a criminal is here in the country illegally or driving without a driver’s license so we don’t comprehend the full impact of citizens of other countries here illegally in this county.


We are all better off if our government agencies just report the facts. How can people in California make good decisions if they don’t know all the facts?


0

“Hiding information?” Does every crime, every investigation get spoon fed to the Tribune by the SLOPD? Obviously not.


Again, stop being so naive (or perhaps you’re being defensive?) Gesell is using the Tribune to serve his own agenda.


0

You’d better believe every serious investigation’s details are “hidden” from the public. You only issue a press release when you want to make some sort of point. Unfortunately, it’s pretty unclear in this instance what that point may be. Perhaps the chief, if he is reading this for alleged surveillance purposes, can enlighten us on why he chose to make this issue public.


0

It helps justify some of the scary attitudes Gesell has expressed in print to blow this up into some sort of big threat and get publicity about it. I agree, if he thought it real, it wouldn’t have been press release material. More from Katie Lichtig’s finest.


0

Good to know he is using his time wisely. Has he ever heard of a troll? SLOPD is a joke.


0

I have been provoked by a SLO PO but my years have taught me to just shut up and answer the questions. We need to give them that, as they need to do their job within a diverse group of people.


0

SLOPD has some wonderful individuals employed as law enforcement officers. It also has some real putzes who make things difficult for all.


0

one thing is for sure, is they all make about 75% more than they are worth.


0

Here’s one case where, being a “native,” you have a disadvantage. I’ve lived in several areas in the US and I can attest that we are extremely lucky to have a law enforcement community here that is excellent in nearly every way. Every apple tree has a rotten one apple on it, but we are very lucky and have very little to complain about. I support our police. They do a lot of very dirty work and “parent” a lot of society that needs guidance because they were neglected.


Threatening law enforcement does not make sense or help. Anarchy is not the answer here, even if it is cool in the movies.


When will we learn to discuss, debate, and problem solve in this country again?


0

if we have people in blue parenting our kids or neglected inviduals, we are in big trouble. Cops are unmotivated low iq individuals without the intelligence to make it in corporate America, private industry, or as an entrepreneur – all while expecting and extorting their salary from you whilst their performance creates a 1% crime prevention rate (meaning 99% of all crimes are not prevented). Then the boys in blue tell you what heroes they are and how dangerous their jobs are. What fbs. A hero is an airline pilot, logger, fisherman, firefighter, welder, construction worker, truck driver, cal trans worker, electrical line worker or any other number of professions whose jobs are more dangerous than being a “hero in blue”. Over half of police deaths each year occur in traffic accidents, like the rest of us.


So far this year, police have killed over 1,000 Americans, over half were mentally ill. You are 1,000 times more likely to be killed by a policeman than a terrorist. If you are married to a cop you are 4x more likely to be a victim of domestic abuse than the regular cohort of Americans. BOYS IN BLUE ARE NOT HEROES – they are lazy extortion artists manipulating you through fear and propaganda to extort your wallet. WAKE UP AMERICA.


0

I hope some day you need the men in BLUE , AND then we will see the real TRUTH , you sound like some one that TRIED to be an officer BUT WAS TURNED DOWN because you could not perform , or meet the standards required to be one of the special men and women that wear the uniform and protect your worthle– ass every day , , don’t make the call PROTECT YOURSELF


0

What you don’t realize, is that many of us have NO INTEREST in getting the police involved in ANYTHING, including protecting ourselves. Quite honestly, the police do not usually protect people, they merely come to the scene after something has happened. The only reason that we have to call the police for anything is because we are required to by the law and by insurance companies.


0

What you don’t realize is if there is someone breaking into your house at 0200 , WHO YOU GONNA CALL ?


0

Mr. Remington or Mr. Glock.


0

My old pal, Ruger?


0

Brainwash much?


dont call the police:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjlnHtee4fg


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlq1htVzAi8


I could post here all day about our heroes in blue….


0

What are the police going to do ? If this person means to harm me, then calling the police isn’t going to stop him. If this person doesn’t mean to harm me, then turning on the lights and grabbing a weapon is going to scare him off.


If you imagine the police getting to my house in seconds, and rescuing me from an armed intruder, you watch too much television.


0

When SECONDS count, law enforcement is only MINUTES away!


0

a gun in the hand is better than one cop on the phone and another on the way…..


0

And a dispatcher who doesn’t know where you are.


0

I agree with most of your points,except that we have an excellent law enforcement community here. We simply don’t have that much crime here, and what crime there is, they seem to get involved with themselves on some level.


That issue aside, your last point is the most important. Unfortunately, in response to concerns from the public, it is the law enforcement community who has been completely unwilling to discuss or debate anything.


0

That was without a doubt some pretty poor judgement. But it is not a direct threat any more than saying that “all rapists should be castrated” and I know a lot of people who have said that. Gesell, as a supposed professional, should KNOW that it’s not a direct threat and therefore covered by the first amendment and calling in the FBI in to investigate is essentially a form of harassment.


0

I must respectfully disagree as I’m not aware of any “rapists being castrated” by the public. However, I am aware of hundreds of police officers murdered each year while on the job.


I do agree the specific quote does not appear to be a direct threat; however, police deemed it to be a possible threat. Why? Perhaps a pattern of hateful speech? Other facebook posts? Past Criminal Record? Past mental health records? I find it completely reasonable and not a form of harassment to forward all potentially credible threats to the FBI as its their job to do so.


“Damned if you do…. damned if you don’t”. If the individual went ahead and committed a crime, I bet you would likely give the police force a hard time for not taking his past threats seriously.


0

the most notorious event was in 1957 ….. a lynching victim dying too peaceably ….the mob pulled him out of the fire and castrated him. for that purpose reviving and animating him .fortunately this was one of the last publicly advertised lynchings in America


0

Yes police work can be and is often dangerous work BUT as to your comment “I am aware of hundreds of police officers murdered each year while on the job”.


You are absolutely INCORRECT pal


in 2013 there were 65 attributed to murder/felonious assault


in 2012 it was 45


in 2011 it was 72


These are statistics put out by the FBI


Your characterization of hundreds each year is as full of cr*p as a christmas goose thus the credibility of the rest of your post is up in smoke as well


0

You are correct. Hundreds were in the line of duty not killed by assault.


0

NO! Hundreds of LEOs are not killed each year in the line of duty. However, LEOs kill hundreds of civilians each year.


Lies and exaggerations do not help you cause.


Why don’t you try a little truthiness.


0

An undercover cop said “I am aware of hundreds of police officers murdered each year while on the job.”


REALLY?!?! I guess that delusion justifies the militarization of local police forces, your shoot-first attitude and the suspension of the 1st Amendment!


For a reality check, the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund reports that between 2004 and 2013, an average of 150 of the more than 900,000 sworn law enforcement officers in the US died while on duty each year

(see http://www.nleomf.org/facts/officer-fatalities-data/causes.html). The 150 deaths includes officers who died from job-related illnesses, auto & motorcycle accidents, falls, drownings and other causes that can’t possibly be considered MURDER.


But even if 75 officers are actually murdered each year, it is far too many. However, it is not hundreds being murdered each year. And, it does not justify making America a police state.


0

Thank you sir. I am glad someone else is looking up and sharing the facts. People make a lot of assumptions about reality that simply are not true, and if they knew that, would change the way they think about things.


However, in my experience, they will not listen. If your facts are well documented, they will just suddenly change the subject or stop talking.


0

In what country are you aware of hundreds of police officers murdered each year while on the job? Because in this country it was 30 last year.


0

the only people the FBI should be investigating are the SLOPD. Maybe the FBI can pile up more than the six arrests the FBI has already made in the last few years.


0

alcohol?”


0