In a blog called Thee Rant, created exclusively for current and former New York City police officers, statements calling African Americans "apes" and describing female Puerto Rican New Yorkers as "old obese tatted up women stuffed into outfits they purchased or shoplifted at the local Kmart store," are visible to the public.
— Keegan Stephan (@KeeganNYC) April 9, 2015
Cops also refer to Middle Eastern cab drivers as "third worlders," and label New Yorkers "savages demanding justice."
While officers writing these comments say they are exercising their rights to freedom of speech, top officials find themselves "embarrassed," and "powerless."
"It’s very disturbing stuff. Outrageous stuff," said Stephen Davis, the chief spokesman for the NYPD. "We see it. It’s a problem." However, the department claims, it can’t do anything about it.
"Monitoring these things is challenging," Davis said. "There are privacy issues involved. We can’t go and peel back email names and tags and try to find out who these people are."
The blog was started by former NYPD officer Ed Polstein back in 1999, but wasn’t well known until officers made inappropriate comments following the recent incident when a white South Carolina police officer shot dead an unarmed black man.
— Dr. L. M. Ponte (@DrLMPonte) April 17, 2015
"Cop looked good in his stance," read one post on Thee Rant.
The post is believed to have been made by a cop since posting on the blog requires proof the blogger is a current or former NYPD member.
The blog says it garners 120,000 views daily.
