Disclaimers

1. Multiple Meanings

The Facebook posts and comments in this database concern a variety of topics and express a variety of viewpoints, many of them controversial. These posts were selected because the viewpoints expressed could be relevant to important public issues, such as police practices, public safety, and the fair administration of the law. The posts and comments are open to various interpretations. We do not know what a poster meant when he or she typed them; we only know that when we saw them, they concerned us. We have shared these posts because we believe they should start a conversation, not because we believe they should end one.

The posts and comments included in the database comprise portions of a user’s public Facebook activity, and are therefore not intended to present a complete representation of each person’s Facebook presence, or each person’s views on any given subject. Inclusion of a particular post or comment in this database is not intended to suggest that the particular poster or commenter shares any particular belief or viewpoint with any other posters or commenters in the database. Links to the original page from which each post was obtained are provided so you can see the context of the post if you wish.

2. Currentness of Information

The rank, salary, and badge number information in this database was gathered from open source documentation and public records requests. It does not continuously update and is current only as of the date the information was provided to us. Please consult our metadata sourcing page for more information.

3. Redactions

We have redacted the names and faces of non-officers in these posts. Occasionally, this has meant partially or fully redacting an officer's profile picture – because people often use pictures of other people (their children, spouses, friends) as their profile pictures. We have also redacted the names and faces of officers in comment threads where their comments could not reasonably affect public trust in policing.