OFF THE WIRE
PHILADELPHIA - Fox 29's report on a Philadelphia police officer with a raunchy YouTube channel has people talking about freedom of speech - for the men in blue.
Our story on Wednesday about police officer Brian Scalio and his Captain Spastacus character certainly has people taking on Facebook.
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To be clear, Officer Scalio is not under any criminal investigation, just an internal police investigation.
And according to the department, Scalio is still on the job and scheduled for his next shift on Friday.
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects freedom of speech in many cases.
Most people who commented on the story on the Fox 29 Facebook page felt Scalio was within his first-amendment rights, even if he showed questionable judgment.
But many people whom we showed video clips to on Wednesday said they thought the behavior was clearly inappropriate for an officer.
In question are bizarre and graphic videos Scalio posted online on a YouTube channel.
The videos never mention the police department, but the videos are filled with sexual lyrics, parodies of molestation and racial overtones.
More than a dozen videos were posted for the world to see, and they are overwhelmingly sexual and very graphic.
Some of the titles are Crack Head Rosie, Mysterious Hooker and Secret Asian Man. And there's a parody about the Jerry Sandusky scandal.
Fox 29 found Scalio at his South Philadelphia home on Wednesday and he denied being in the videos.
After bringing the videos to the attention of the Philadelphia police department, they declined to comment because of a pending internal investigation.
But according to the police department social media policy, "on-line activities of employees of the police department shall reflect such professional expectations and standards."
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