Editor’s note: What Mom, Dad and the Academy Didn’t Teach You is a nine-part career survival series from Gordon Graham and Bruce “Coach Sok” Sokolove, two self-described “geezer cops” with more than seven decades of law enforcement experience between them. Drawing on what they’ve learned as officers, supervisors, trainers and observers of the profession, the series explores the everyday decisions that can protect — or quietly derail — a law enforcement career. Each installment tackles one lesson they believe officers should learn early, rather than the hard way.
Between the two of us, we have more than seven decades in this profession. We have been officers, supervisors, trainers and, in the later chapters of our careers, observers — watching good cops make entirely avoidable mistakes.
Not bad cops. Good ones.
The academy teaches you to do the job. Arrest techniques, firearms qualification, criminal law and first aid. What it does not teach — and what nobody seems to teach, at least not plainly and early enough — is the ecology of a law enforcement career: the legal, professional, social and personal environment in which that career will either survive or get quietly dismantled.
This series shares nine practical lessons that too many officers learn the hard way. In this installment, we examine one of the easiest career mistakes to overlook: your digital footprint.
Lesson 1: Your digital footprint is a professional liability
The internet has a perfect memory, and the defense bar has a strong search function. Whatever you have posted, liked, shared, or commented on since the day you created your first social media account is potentially discoverable. The question is not whether a given post was legal, or whether it reflects your beliefs today. The question is how it reads to a jury five years from now when opposing counsel is trying to establish that you are a biased, reckless, or dishonest actor. This is not theoretical.
Brady and Giglio disclosures increasingly encompass social media content. Plaintiff’s attorneys in civil rights cases routinely conduct full social media audits of involved officers before trial. Departments facing pattern-and-practice investigations produce officer social media histories as part of discovery. The officer who posted a racially charged meme in 2019 and forgot about it will encounter that meme again under circumstances far less forgiving.
The practical guidance here is not subtle: Audit every account you have ever held, now, before someone else does. Remove your employer and occupation from all profile fields. Lock down privacy settings, but understand they are imperfect protection. Before posting anything — anything — ask how it reads on the front page of a local newspaper the morning after a high-profile incident involving you.
The exposure question extends beyond your own accounts. Family members who announce your profession, post photos that identify your vehicle, or share your shift schedule on neighborhood apps create real targeting risk. The conversation with your family is uncomfortable. Have it anyway. You are not asking them to be secretive. You are asking them to be careful, and there is a difference.
Want more career lessons from Gordon and Bruce? Watch their on-demand webinar: 9 Career-Saving Lessons for Cops
Quick checklist: Lock down your digital life
- Audit every social media account you’ve ever held — delete or restrict old posts.
- Remove employer and occupation fields from all profiles.
- Warn family: no badge photos, no shift schedule, no patrol car selfies.
- Review participation in neighborhood apps (Nextdoor, etc.).
- No photos near your personal vehicle that link it to law enforcement.
- Google yourself. Then do it again.
Continue learning on Police1
- Overlooked social media risk for law enforcement: Strava
- Protecting police officers’ privacy: Combatting the risks of exposed PII
- Choose your words carefully to preserve the public trust
