By Troy Graham
Philadelphia Inquirer
PHILADELPHIA — Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey has restricted the Web site domelights.com from workplace computers, but an organization of black officers wants the department to go further.
The Guardian Civic League yesterday asked for a court order that not only blocks the site from department computers, but that also bans police officers from posting racially offensive material - even on their own time - and forces the site’s founder to remove any offensive postings.
The civic league last week sued the department, the Web site, and its founder, an active-duty police sergeant, charging that the site contains hostile, racist material.
Civic league President Rochelle Bilal said yesterday that the Web site and its content are symptomatic of a police department with longstanding race problems.
“The police department, from its inception, has been inherently racist,” she said. She said the league planned to hold an emergency meeting tomorrow to air the issue with its members.
Ramsey restricted the Web site last week, after the class-action lawsuit was filed, a police spokesman said yesterday. A civic league attorney said he could not comment on the commissioner’s decision because Ramsey has not discussed it publicly.
Domelights.com, a popular destination for police, firefighters, and the media, provides forums for discussing crime news, police gossip, and other topics. The posts are often ribald, and racially sensitive issues are broached frequently.
The league is seeking an immediate injunction partly because of the vitriolic comments posted on domelights.com after the lawsuit was filed, said attorney Brian Mildenberg.
Some comments suggested that white officers may not provide backup to black officers who complain about domelights.com, according to court papers.
Others personally attacked Bilal, a sworn officer who works in narcotics intelligence. The most inflammatory comments directed at her are unprintable.
“The site has gotten perversely worse,” Bilal said yesterday. “We want it shut down now.”
The league contends that white officers post and moderate the Web site while on duty, using department computers. The league said that creates a hostile work environment for black officers, who revile the site.
“It’s no different than any police officer going up to a wall and spray-painting graffiti with the N-word,” Mildenberg said.
Domelights.com was founded in 2000 by an active duty sergeant who uses the screen name “McQ.” Though he is not identified in the lawsuit, McQ’s domelights.com profile contains the name Fred McQuiggan.
In 2004, Fred McQuiggan, who works at Police Headquarters, wrote a letter printed in The Inquirer that included his name and domelights.com e-mail address.
He did not respond to an e-mail sent to that address yesterday.
Last week, in response to the suit, McQ said in a posting that he has never maintained domelights.com on police time or equipment and that he is the only active-duty moderator or administrator of the site.
He said he has never received a complaint about the site’s content from the Guardian Civic League. He also said that he rejected racist and sexist remarks, but that he supported the right of people to express them.
“I own the slate on which everybody is encouraged to write,” he said. “There is no progress gained on social issues when angry people stew in their juices while remaining silent.”
The league said it also has made a complaint about the Web site to the federal Department of Justice. The league’s complaint that officers post while on duty has been forwarded to Internal Affairs, a police spokesman said.
The department, however, has no authority to shut down the site.
“What people do in their own time, that’s not something we have control over,” said the spokesman, Lt. Frank Vanore. “We can’t restrict that.”
Mildenberg, the league attorney, disagreed. He said the department can ban its officers from posting racially offensive material, even while off-duty. Regulations require officers “to avoid engaging in racially offensive speech or conduct in public,” according to the lawsuit.
Bilal said officers who post racist comments “don’t deserve to be on our department.” She dismissed those who posted comments last week suggesting violence be done to her.
“That’s easily done by cowards on domelights,” she said.
Copyright 2009 Philadelphia Inquirer