Dallas 911 Operator Fired For Racist Facebook Posts

Dallas, TX – When are people going to learn that employers do peruse social media? Sometimes that content you consider free speech on your personal page, that just about anyone can see, can get you fired.

Ideally, we want to be free to tell it like it is. In reality, anything and everything we share can be subject to scrutiny and consequences – a fact April Sims learned after she was let go from her job for allegedly expressing her opinion on Facebook.

April Sims, a Dallas, Texas 911 operator was excused from her job Wednesday after several blatantly racist comments on her Facebook page were discovered by her employer – violating the police department’s social media policy.

The department’s social media policy prohibits employees from posting items or information that may adversely affect the morale, confidence, and public respect of the department. Based on the firing, it’s assumed it is frowned upon to share personal opinions on otherwise sensitive information regarding calls made to 911.

The 23-year-old, who had been working for the local authorities for several months, brazenly referenced work-related calls she received as an operator, quoted by KVUE as posting statements on her social media like:

“Black people are outrageous! They are more like animals, they never know how to act, just loud [expletive] always causing problems. I can count on one hand the black people I know who don’t have [expletive] for brains.”

A racially tinged, graphic post concerning a domestic violence call read, “You want to call 911 cause your boyfriend put his hands on you and you want to press charges when you don’t even know his real name?! Sure let’s make a police report for Dino, that is his street name.”

On another Sims alleged stated on her Facebook, “I can count on one hand the black people I know who aren’t selfish.”

After receiving harsh criticism over delays in 911 responses, Dallas police hired several operators back in December, including Sims. Typically, when officers are hired, their social media is screened, but operators are not usually subjected to the same process.

WFAA reports that when someone via Facebook inquired as to whether the girl’s account had been hacked Sims responded with “standing by every word.”

[Image via Shutterstock]