Thread by @equalityAlec

Thread. One thing most people don't appreciate is how much money police spend on PR/marketing. Here are a few representative examples that should get you thinking.

Shortly after the racial justice protests last year, an investigation by the @latimes revealed that the LA Sheriff had 42 employees doing misleading PR in an "information bureau," costing millions. The strategic communications director made $200,000/year! latimes.com/california/sto…

The same investigation found that LAPD had another 25 employees doing propaganda work. That's 67 cops doing public relations manipulation across just two departments in one county (and LA county has almost 50 other municipal and state police forces who don't report this!)

Police often routinely do communications support and coordination with mayoral "communications strategists." Remember the recent scandal of cops and the SF mayor trying to stage a photo op about retail theft in front of Louis Vuitton?

https://twitter.com/equalityAlec/status/1468080434630172673

Then there is the big industry of outside PR consultants and corporations who specialize in lucrative business of "crisis communications" for cops, helping them manipulate public opinion when they kill people or get caught sending racist texts, etc.

https://twitter.com/NotoriousECG/status/1467896361991299074

None of this counts all the cash police spend on branding, logos, swag, and gear. Think of how every police car in your city is emblazoned with a slogan like "courtesy, professionalism, respect." What's the purpose?

Organized information manipulation by police has profound consequences. It's one way that media narratives get shaped so consistently.

https://twitter.com/equalityAlec/status/1470089954428551173

While we often don't think carefully about how media decides what news to cover, police think about it every day and spend a lot of money trying to shape what we think is important and what isn't. In the thread below, I explain how this is catastrophic.

https://twitter.com/equalityAlec/status/1464270507310727171

These are just a few recent examples from California. I encourage you to investigate the PR budgets, operations, investments, and practices of your local department, and post them publicly.