In running an efficient and effective Police Department, one must be mindful of the words used by Police Officers while on and off duty. So what can you do if your Police Officer has a tendency to say things that are highly offensive?
The City of Des Plaines in dealing with that exact problem terminated the employment of Police Officer Lalowski. Officer Lalowski filed a § 1983 action alleging that his termination of employment violated his First Amendment Right to free speech.
Officer Lalowski had 2 altercations with a group of demonstrators outside an abortion clinic; once while on duty and once shortly after his duty tour ended. Officer Lalowski while on duty engaged in an adversarial confrontation with the demonstrators. Some of the demonstrators testified during the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners Hearing that Lalowski repeatedly used profanities and threats; Lalowski denies using profanities or threats. The exchange lasted a few minutes. After his shift ended, Lalowski, wearing plain clothes and in his own vehicle, returned to the abortion clinic and had another exchange with the demonstrators. When speaking to Paula Emmerth Lalowski called her a “fat fucking cow”, “a sinner of gluttony”, and he asked her if she was hiding food somewhere. He began lecturing Emmerth about the importance of exercise and got down on all fours to demonstrate an aerobic exercise to help her lose weight. Emmerth also testified that at some point during the conversation Lalowski poked her in both arms and rubbed her arms in a “creepy, sexual way”.
Emmerth’s exchange with the demonstrators while off duty lasted approximately one hour and twenty minutes. During that time he accused demonstrators of using tactics like the Taliban, compared their use of abortion-fetus signs to using an image of a priest bending over a small boy, and called demonstrators “psycho”, “man hatter”, “fat” and “fatty”. The Record also showed that Officer Jones called Lalowski over to notify him that some of the demonstrators called 911 for police assistance in dealing with him.
In Affirming the dismissal of Lalowski’s First Amendment claim the Seventh Circuit Appellate Court held that none of Lalowskis statements were constitutionally protected. Among other factors, the Court considered the following factors:
1. Potential to create problems in maintaining discipline and harmony within the Police Department;
2. The importance of personal loyalty and confidence in the employment relationship;
3. Whether the speech conflicted with the Officers responsibility as a Police Officer; specifically his responsibility to foster a relationship of trust and respect with the public.
See the attached case of Lalowski v. City of Des Plaines, 2015 WL 3756412 (June 17th, 2015)
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