Maybe you might ask your girlfriend if he has a close relative or friend that he might listen to(assuming your GF concurs with your assessment). Then contact that person and discuss it. If they agree then they should speak to him personally, not on FB.
Secondly, and even more important, is to resist saying I told you so to the GF if it all goes south.

GF agrees with me. I actually mentioned it to his Mom on Christmas Eve. She agreed and said that basically she told him the same thing and that he is a person that you tell once and leave him be. He won't change his mind on anything just because people hound him.

In this case that is a bad trait. But in other circumstances it isn't. For example, his mom is super bleeding heart liberal and he is super conservative, no matter what she says.

He either wants to be a cop or he doesn’t. In the huge list of sacrifices one has to make for a career in law enforcement, abandoning social media or refraining from posting stupid stuff on there doesn't even make the list. His career is doomed with that attitude and almost certainly lacks the maturity to be a police officer.

Some times LE job problems involving social media are messy and very public which may negatively impact his ability to get a subsequent job.

I have known a number of LEOs who believed that their opinions of what was right and wrong (for them) trumped society’s and their agencies’ rules and policies. Most ended up being fired and on the street with nothing to show for the effort it took for them to get into law enforcement in the first place. And it’s LEOs like that who occasionally make the headlines and end up worrying about whether they will be placed in general population.

No matter what we may think of something like the bump stock ban, illegal is illegal, and virtually all law enforcement officers must sooner or later enforce laws or rules that they don’t like personally. Can’t do that? Best to find some way of making a living as a political activist to change what you don’t like.

People getting themselves in trouble over social media postings is not limited to LEO's either.

I previously worked with a couple of persons that made disparaging remarks that came back to bite them.

I’m friends with 6 cops in real life.

On social media, particularly Facebook, 2 of those cops abstain.

1 cop is a creepy lurker and doesn’t post.

The other 3 have only their first and middle names visible or some variation and tend to stick to posting about their families, hunting pics, or just random non controversial bullshit.

The most “controversial” stuff I’ll see the final 3 post is pro-Trump or pro-2A articles.

OP, you are correct about him ruining his chances at getting a job...they WILL look at his posts, and stuff like that WILL get him dumped from the process. What concerns me more than the comments, though, is his attitude towards correction from those older and wiser. The comments themselves can be written off to being young and dumb, but a police candidate who thinks he's smarter than those who know better than him, and believes he's above the law is not someone we want in the profession.

Better for him that he get dumped from the process now than get hired and end up sued or in prison later on.

Rather than post on his social media about the evils of social media, why not have a face to face talk with him.

Imagine he’s shooting his mouth off with his friends and you stepping in and advising him. What do you think his reaction will be in front of his friends? That’s what you did.

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge:
who stopped me for not having a light on my bicycle.

When I was on the road, that was a ONE HUNDRED PERCENT CITATION for me. No warning, no ifs ands or buts. I got real tired of working fatalities of people riding bicycles on the roadway without lights. After you scrape the first few up, you learn pretty quick to cite.

And what's up with the insistence on wearing black clothing while riding a bicycle in the dark with no lights? It is selfish to do so because it ruins the life of the poor guy that can't see you and kills you.

I’m 21 years in LE and I post on social media....but you need to be smart about it.

As part of the hiring process, a smart background investigator will check your social media. You may have some explaining to do about things posted.

People in LE have been fired or suspended for things they post. Like I said, you need to be smart about what you post.

It takes a certain type of maturity to correctly handle social media. Maybe he should wait a few years before the applies for LE.

The facts of life; you CAN'T do anything you want. I know people who are 67 years old who don't get this.

V.

Sometimes stupid has to hurt before reality sets in.

I’ve been stupid on social media. I got burned pretty damn bad due to posts here, of all places.

Probably would have gotten my walking papers if the captain that called me in had his way. Luckily a deputy chief was involved and had a cooler head.

Learned my damn lesson, though.

quote:

Originally posted by jljones:
And what's up with the insistence on wearing black clothing while riding a bicycle in the dark with no lights?

I've also noticed that around here with people walking on the road at night.

I was lucky with a dark African American walking towards me on the road, wearing dark / black clothing - the ONLY reason I saw him is he smiled a very toothy grin to whoever he was walking with. Scared the shit out of me.

22 years in LE and my posts are generally cat or dog pictures. nothing political and i don't even have my job listed. only family and close friends know i am in le. most assume i'm doing something with computers.

I am concerned that he doesn’t have the emotional intelligence to have a career in law enforcement.

Being belligerent about this and not seeing the real ramifications- Does he have what it takes to be a good cop?

"he is a person that you tell once and leave him be. He won't change his mind on anything just because people hound him."

quote:

Originally posted by jljones:

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge:
who stopped me for not having a light on my bicycle.

When I was on the road, that was a ONE HUNDRED PERCENT CITATION for me. No warning, no ifs ands or buts. I got real tired of working fatalities of people riding bicycles on the roadway without lights. After you scrape the first few up, you learn pretty quick to cite.

And what's up with the insistence on wearing black clothing while riding a bicycle in the dark with no lights? It is selfish to do so because it ruins the life of the poor guy that can't see you and kills you.

Casing places for burglaries or a midnight dope run.

I don’t know the exact hiring process but my understanding is he’s gone through everything and has been offered the job. He is starting police academy soon. I’m assuming his social media will be a problem at some point but it depends on how they find out. He does have it set to friends only. I’m not close to him and see him only rarely. If I have the chance I will talk to him.

quote:

Originally posted by jljones:

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge:
who stopped me for not having a light on my bicycle.

When I was on the road, that was a ONE HUNDRED PERCENT CITATION for me. No warning, no ifs ands or buts. I got real tired of working fatalities of people riding bicycles on the roadway without lights. After you scrape the first few up, you learn pretty quick to cite.

And what's up with the insistence on wearing black clothing while riding a bicycle in the dark with no lights? It is selfish to do so because it ruins the life of the poor guy that can't see you and kills you.

I have no argument against that. I was polite, compliant, and deferential with him the entire time. Had he explained things the way you just did instead of acting like a hot-to-trot chickenshit rookie, it wouldn't have stuck in my craw like it has. We both know what I'm talking about here. That's why I brought it up in this context. I haven't been stopped in years because I lost my lead foot, so it wasn't like that was my only contact with an officer stopping me, and it still stands out as the only one that pissed me off, even having been politely ticketed for mo' money.

quote:

Originally posted by 357fuzz:
Casing places for burglaries or a midnight dope run.

In full disclosure, I had just had a fight with my wife that was bad enough that she actually got in the car and took off, so I figured "fuck it, I'll go buy a six pack." I crossed one back street, cut between stores in a strip mall, rode through the parking lot to the corner store, bought my six pack, loaded it in my backpack and made it across the well-lit parking lot and between the stores when the searchlight hit me the same time as the red and blues and I heard the screeching tires and "STOP!"

I wasn't wearing black, but I guess having a beard and long hair made me look like the homeless drunks that live on the beach there who've all lost their driver's licenses. I worked at a music store, lol. *shrug*

Now I wear a high & tight, and I shave, and I don't get eyeballed. I also don't ride a bike anymore. I guess it just works that way.

quote:

Originally posted by frayedends:
I don’t know the exact hiring process but my understanding is he’s gone through everything and has been offered the job. He is starting police academy soon. I’m assuming his social media will be a problem at some point but it depends on how they find out. He does have it set to friends only. I’m not close to him and see him only rarely. If I have the chance I will talk to him.

Good luck to him. I don't know how old he is, but the job, and the life will form him from here on out.