Daily Archives: February 24, 2011

Will officer Robert Acevedo Jr.’s gangster rap past keep him from protecting his community?

That is the question the Internal Affairs Division of the Philadelphia Police Department is evaluating after learning of Acevedo’s, fka Young Reek, rap videos, and the fact that he won an out-of-court police brutality settlement against the same department.

Acevedo joined the department in 2010 after giving up his rap career but his previous conduct in videos where he threatened “to shoot people and kill people” and alluded to smoking has investigators worried.

“You may have a conflict of conscience but not a conflict of interest here,” said former Philadelphia Police Commissioner John Timoney. “I don’t know how it didn’t come up in background check, but even if it did, the issues that disqualify you are drug testing and prior contact with the justice system. Being litigious won’t disqualify you.”

Would you worry if your taxes were paying a gangster rapper to protect and serve?