A BALLARAT police officer could take legal action over a social media hate page that abuses and insults him.
The Facebook page, which Victoria Police said would be taken down in December last year, continues to run and still has people posting on it.
Police Association secretary Greg Davies hit out at Facebook for not taking the page down and said there was a possibility the targeted officer could take legal action over the page.
The Ballarat Highway Patrol officer, who The Courier has chosen not to name, declined to comment on the page.
However, Mr Davies said the union had been made aware the page still existed last week and would be doing its utmost to have it removed.
He said the officer had been encouraged to report the issue to Chief Commissioner Ken Lay.
If the page continued to run, Mr Davies said legal action would likely be the next step.
“We are sick to death of the attitude of Facebook with issues like this. It’s as though Facebook consider themselves not to be responsible about what goes on its website,” he said.
“If we can’t get it sorted then we are going to take every possible action, which could lead to seeking legal advice.”
The page, which includes derogatory comments about the officer and his family, also has photos of the off-duty officer at a fast food store.
Mr Davies also lashed out at the “idiots” who posted offensive material on the page, claiming they were also liable for defamation.
“You have to question the mentality of the people who jump on these pages, especially when their name is on it,” he said.
In December last year, a similar page about a Melbourne-based officer was set up.
It was removed within 24 hours after police made a public stand against the page.
At the time, a Victoria Police spokesperson said the page about the Ballarat officer would be removed.
However it is still yet to be taken down.
Neither a police media spokesperson or a Facebook spokesperson responded to The Courier’s inquiries yesterday.
patrick.nolan@fairfaxmedia.com.au
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