Member Submission: Doxxing vs. Registry
The “doxxing” of police officers mentioned in this article is of interest to me and perhaps it will be to others as well. There are parallels between doxxing and the registry. We know firsthand the struggle to live in relative safety. This story by no means satisfies. Nurtured resentments never fulfill their promise. As a registered citizen I fear for anyone subjected to mob rules! Living in fear is unhealthy beyond measure!
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AP Exclusive: Police officers’ personal info leaked online
By Michael Balsamo and Colleen Long | AP
June 10, 2020 at 2:19 p.m. EDT
WASHINGTON — Personal information of police officers in departments nationwide is being leaked online amid tense interactions at demonstrations across the U.S. over the police custody death of George Floyd and others, according to an unclassified intelligence document from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, obtained by The Associated Press.
The document warns that the effort, known as “doxxing,” could lead to attacks by “violent opportunists or domestic violent extremists” or could prevent law enforcement officials from carrying out their duties.
Multiple high-ranking police officials in a number of cities, including Washington, Atlanta, Boston and New York have had their personal information shared on social media, including their home addresses, email addresses and phone numbers, the report warns.
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Will Allen, strangely their was no “Reply” link to your early morning post. I just wanted to say that I am listening.
Keeping the “sex offender” label is also dangerous and not what I thought this country stood for.
Even though I do not agree with Mr. Heyden’s treatment of his employees in the Black Lives Matters’ movement, I do agree with his statement when he compares the challenges he faces to the Black Lives Matter movement with the hashtag “sex offender lives matter”. I hope we can all unite in this time of criminal justice reform.
https://www.tri-cityherald.com/news/local/article243901312.html
What a tragic, misguided slogan, “sex offenders’ lives matter.”
Heyden is a middle aged man required to register due to a poor choice he made as a juvenile. The standard police and media term for him is “sex offender.” One of his critics even got away with calling him a “predator.” We need to keep working to change that terminology where it doesn’t apply. But Heyden fell for it it, despite having lived a crime-free adulthood.
In reality, a “sex offender” is someone who is actively sex offending, has a propensity to sex offend, or is grooming victims. Do their lives matter? Yes, but they need to be stopped and held to account. I won’t rehash the statistics, because most of us on here already know that there is very little overlap between who is a registrant and who is a sex offender.
When we are making efforts to educate the public, words matter. Registrants’ lives matter!
Good point!
I thoroughly understand what you are saying, but also to be considered, Jacob: this is a hashtag that might reach more people than #registrants’ lives matter. Both should be used as we try to draw more people to our social media sites. As much as I detest using “sex offenders”, if we draw more people, then I feel we have to use it. Am I wrong in my thinking? If I am, it surely would not be the first time.
I can see where the “sex offenders lives matter” hashtag might reach more people. But my gut tells me that use of the term “sex offender” in such a slogan will tap into peoples’ underlying assumptions so strongly that it will elicit an instant opinion without them bothering to read any further.
By contrast:
Me: “Registrants’ lives matter!”
Them: “Who? What’s a registrant?”
Me: “Well, let me tell you…”
(Or other term, such as suggested below).
Unfortunately, I expect you are correct. Probably a good percentage of people search for terms like “sex offender”. So how about just using it once and only to point out that the term is wrong? Maybe some canned introduction that can be used every time so that people will get used to seeing it and recognize that there is a movement/war that is constantly active?
I feel a huge part of the problem with this Registry War is that so few people have come to recognize that there is constant, every day opposition to it by any significant number of people. I feel like most people in America think the Registries are around, are wonderful, and just a handful of people listed on them grumble about them occasionally (e.g. like when they get arrested for “plotting to molest more children”).
So what would you think about starting every single communication about the Registries with some common verbiage? Something shocking that gets immediate attention? Maybe:
Then continue from there. The wording could be something else, of course. There are a lot of creative people who can likely think of better (and I didn’t try that hard (yet!)).
What effect do you think that would have if hundreds of thousands of people used that all the time, for years? I don’t know but this movement/war needs to unite, be cohesive, and get some branding. In addition to that verbiage, how about a “badge” or insignia for the moral side of this war? F.A.C. would use what they already do and want to, but they would include it. W.A.R. would include it. NARSOL would. ACSOL would. Illinois Voices. Nebraskans Unafraid. Instead of people seeing one or two groups, maybe, they’d see that insignia all over the place. They might come to recognize that it is millions of people.
You have some interesting points.
Use it once and only to point out that the term is wrong. That is surely part of the education process. My problem, though, is that I am limited in the number of words I can use. There is more information (research) out there that needs to be shared with the public now than any one person can write in a letter or posted comments. I feel our goal is to take down the registry or at least greatly scale it back, to be used only for the repeat offenders that cannot be stopped. If that were ever to occur, we would not be having this conversation over the words s__ o____.
When I write, post, or quote, just so there is no confusion, I have sometimes had to include the words s___ o___ one time at the beginning; then I switch over to something else quickly. If at all possible, I try to stay away from simply using s__ o___ and instead use “people on the sex offender registry”. Then I also try to move quickly away from that label.
I have had many people say they want a different word or word phrase used, and I have heard many examples given, but there is never a consensus as to what should be used.
I have copied your suggestion and will keep it in mind. Again, though, I am so limited in space and have so much I want to share. To get everything in would require writing a book.
I agree on the benefit with all groups uniting together. The cohesiveness and unity could be powerful. I hear others wanting the same thing. How to go about doing it is what I do not know how to do, but I am ready. I would like to see our cause unite with BLM movement.
The University of Florida law school is joining 12 other law schools in the state to create the Florida Law Schools’ Consortium for Racial Justice. They will be using second- or third-year law students to help community organizations conduct research, pull data, create reports or anything else than may be needed to help improve state racial justice policies. Today I am writing a letter to the UF Levin College of Law, asking that they consider helping in the reform of the registry and the draconian statutes/ordinances that go with it.
https://www.gainesville.com/news/20200630/uf-law-school-joins-racial-justice-group
Will Allen, something that was suggested to me by an FAC member was to refer to the registry as the Sex Offense Registry, which I am now doing.
Sex Offense Registry strikes me as a great improvement, even if subtle. Because that’s all it is.
It’s late and I have very little time right now. I just want to say quickly to SarahF and Jacob that you two always seem to have very sensible, well conceived comments and ideas. I would feel very comfortable with such people deriving strategies and actions. I wish I had more time to help. I’ve really felt lately that I should be scaling back on this because other things need a lot more of my attention. I’ll see. I also don’t want to slight anyone else that I didn’t mention here. There are lots of other skilled people. Anyway …
I think “Sex Offense Registry” is great. I’m actually surprised I don’t think I’ve seen that before. That is all that the Hit List is. It is a list of people who have (probably) committed a sex offense. I think I will start using that all the time. Although I really, really do believe that MOST of the people who actually zealously support the Registries are not very smart and I think it will fly about 1,000 miles over their heads. Maybe can explain it to them. I’ve been calling the Registries the “Hit Lists”. Perhaps I’ll use “Sex Offense Registry” to introduce “Hit List”.
SarahF, you mentioned that you need to be brief, and that is very often the case, but I think just a couple of short sentences at the very beginning of every single communication would be a very good thing. I do think writings must say “sex offender” in them, in order to help with searches. I like what I wrote above but perhaps people can improve it? I tried to respond to that comment while it was “awaiting moderation” and that apparently failed. I only wanted to state that I didn’t like “lay person” and offered about 15 alternatives.
I think a common, worldwide emblem or insignia that people could eventually come to recognize, would be very useful as well. If just a few people could make one and get some people using it, its use could grow and grow over the years. It needs to be an emblem where people think, “I recognize that. What is that?” Personally, I’d like to put “Registration Liberation Army” on it. But perhaps that is too much. It would be useful to have a website on it? But whose? I feel it wouldn’t get adopted as much if it had a specific website on it. Maybe it should just say something like “search for _____ on the internet” and that would pull up all the various advocacy organizations? Or better … have a consortium just for this … and have the website for that do little more than includes links to all the organizations.
Too tired, I’m done.
My personal opinion is, we should continue to call it what it is. “Sex Offender registry” if we start calling it by different names it is bound to confuse people into thinking we are fighting to eliminate several different laws. This one law is hard enough to explain without having to explain a bunch of different names that we call it. Believe me I HATE to say Sex Offender Registry, but that is what it is and that is what the battle is called that we are fighting.
Wow, you are so crazy correct about a misguided slogan. Nothing about it sounds correct or good. I know it is not intended, but it almost sounds to me as if it supports offending.
I didn’t study this situation in detail but obviously the guy is quite accomplished and likely has some sense. He is right that this is a civil rights war but he should have presented it better or, better yet, don’t try to associate or compare it with BLM. The BLM movement, older civil rights movement in general, and the Persons Forced to Registered (PFR) War are all valid, important, moral fights. They can all be compared. But I’d never suggest that the PFR War is nearly on the same level as the others.
Obviously PFRs should not be called “sex offenders”. But I don’t like “Registrants” either. It is technically correct but it makes it appear too legitimate. It doesn’t convey very well either that it is not a legitimate government action, but is a war. I much prefer PFR. Maybe there is something better?
Lastly, whomever called this guy “predator” is not just wrong. That person is a liar. We need to call those people out.
I understand everything you are saying, but the fact remains that the words “sex offender” are being used in hashtags to draw viewers to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. Many people out there are not educated on using “registrant”, “citizen with a past sex offense”, etc. As we develop social media sites for FAC, we need hashtags that will help people find us. Are all of you recommending that the words “sex offenders” be dropped from our hashtags, knowing that we will miss out on many views? For the record, I do not see ANY of you as being sex offenders. I do not see my husband as being a sex predator.
I lack savvy in fb, Insta hashtags, so that may be the way to go. As long as we can just get ppl to READ what’s underlying!
In fact, I recall someone from NARSOL making a similar comment— that they had to use “sex offender” in their articles in order for those articles to get more frequent google results.
I encourage you to read the comments I left this morning on this article published in the Tri-City Herald.
As I have said before, Will Allen, I appreciate all you do in helping our cause.
Apparently you have to be on fb to read the whole thing, or even to hit the Like button. Which is fine; that’s the audience that needs to see it.
I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again . Public registry’s of any kind are the first step towards anarchy. Is that what the people want .
That is why framers of our constitution outlawed public shaming.
What would be wrong with siding with police against a public list of police offenses. It’s wrong for them just as it is wrong for anyone else. They are dangerous and useless and only encourage vigilantism, which is just another term for anarchy. They just might appreciate someone siding with them now and we sure could use there support. Especially since many of them are not in support of a public registry anyway because it just makes there job harder.
The term offender definitely need changed because it’s technically incorrect and false. Unless they want to remove all people that are not currently offending. If they are they would be in jail. Which means there not on a list.
I agree.
The battle for civil rights affects all people.
Appreciate your comments Sarah and Will. Allen
You both are right on but the term sex offender is derogatory and offensive and incorrect. In this time of political correctness it must be done away with as a general term. Just like derogatory names for blacks or other groups like people with mental disorders. There is no room or reason in today’s society for terms that falsely slander anyone by categorically discriminating against them by grouping them all together with a demeaning term.