Randy Bergmann

When will public officials and public servants ever learn?

When will they stop sharing their ignorant, divisive rants on Facebook and other social media?

The latest political drivel came from George Dohn, a veteran Berkeley police officer and newly re-elected member of the Central Regional school board. In a Thursday morning post, he compared North Jersey to the Soviet Union — which, it should be noted, hasn't existed since 1991 — and suggested a canal be built to separate it from the southern portion of the state.

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If anything should be separated, it should be Dohn from his paying job as a cop and his nonpaying position as a school board member. Berkeley and Central Regional should make it clear that Dohn's bigoted brand of thinking has no place in their community.

Anyone reading Dohn's post in the northern part of the state would have to be excused if they supported building the canal if the cop/school board member’s mentality was representative of the southern half of the state, which fortunately it isn’t.

Dohn's post included a map in which the southern portion of the state was colored red and labeled "South Jersey,'' with the words "PINEY POWER'' superimposed over it. A lavender-colored ocean to the right was adorned with the words, "Free Living Americans,'' with an arrow pointing to the South Jersey part of the map. On a green portion of the map, there was a black arrow pointing to the North Jersey section with the words, "Liberal NY WANNA BE"s.''

Dohn apparently felt his post would be confined to like-minded friends on his Facebook page. It was shared privately to his Facebook friends. But how, in this day and age, could he fail to recognize that there is no such thing as privacy on social media.

As a police officer, a highly paid one at that — his last reported salary was $124,249 —you would think Dohn would be particularly attuned to the personal risks posed by social media posts. Earlier this year, a fellow police officer from the Matawan Police Department created a stir when he posted an upside down "OK" symbol, which has become a symbol of the white supremacist movement.

There are countless examples of public officials, celebrities and other prominent figures whose careers have been upended or reputations ruined by inappropriate social media posts they thought were private.

Apparently, the dangers haven't been taken to heart by everyone. Police officers, school board members and other public servants should keep their biased political views to themselves. Particularly when they are inane. The Berkeley Township Council and the Central Regional Board of Education should do their part in getting the message across by disassociating themselves from Dohn — and disassociating Dohn from his public positions.

Randy Bergmann: 732.643.4034; @appopinion; rbergmann@app.com.