On November 8, 2023, “The Intercept” published an article alleging that the Medford Police Department (MPD) had improperly monitored the social media accounts of organizations involved in local protests. These organizations allegedly include Siskiyou Rising Tide and Stabbin’ Wagon.
MPD responded by stating that article selectively included only parts of the departments official response in the article; leading to a skewed representation.
In the statement, the Medford Police Department refutes The Intercept’s characterization of emails related to police operations between 2016 and 2023, emphasizing that monitoring public social media profiles is legal and a crucial aspect of ensuring public safety.
The department contends that reviewing public social media helps address concerns such as potential traffic disruptions, breaches of peace, conflicts between protesters and counter-protesters, and the possibility of violence or property damage.
Medford Police officials have provided the following copy of the statement sent to The Intercept:
“Law enforcement agencies, including the Medford Police Department, actively look at the public social media profiles of organizations and individuals when there is reported or self-evident concern of a public safety interest.
These types of interests can include potential impacts to normal traffic flow, potential breaches of peace, potential conflicts between protesters and counter-protesters, and potential escalation including property damage or violence. As a professional law enforcement agency, we believe it is imperative to public safety for our officers to share information both internally and with law enforcement partners in order to prepare for worst-case scenarios in an effort to protect the general public. While most protests do not turn into worst-case scenarios, it is the Department’s responsibility to prepare for such situations. Medford Police takes seriously the responsibility to protect all citizens, including those exercising their First Amendment right to protest.
As to emails related to State grant funding being allocated to Stabbin Wagon, City staff expressing opinions about a State grant award or asking State officials questions about that State grant award is not uncommon. It is routine and appropriate for inquiries to be made to public entities like the State of Oregon about how that public entity is allocating its resources, just as the City of Medford routinely receives inquiries and opinions from citizens and entities about the City’s grant allocations and other expenditures.”
The Medford Police Department also provided the following statement regarding the matter as a whole:
“We aggressively deny this magazine’s allegations that our actions as a law enforcement agency in the incidents described by The Intercept were unlawful, improper, or a breach of constitutional rights.”
The Intercept is known for its self-described “adversarial” journalism. The organization was initially funded by eBay founder, Pierre Omidyar, in 2014. According to their website: “We seek to be fair in our coverage, which means allowing people and institutions a reasonable window to respond to reporters’ inquiries before publishing a story that contains significant revelations about them. It does not mean mandating “balance” when one perspective on a subject — such as the science of climate change, or the justification for a war crime — is clearly without merit.”
Medford Alert has reached out to the articles author for additional comment, at this time we have not received a response.
