Social media platforms won’t shield users from the things they say about city hall staff in Penticton.

Police are now investigating after a “series of ongoing and hateful and targeted comments” caught the attention of city hall.

According to a city news release, some comments about its employees may have crossed a line into harassment or threats, prompting a report to Penticton RCMP.

“City staff come to work each day to serve the community. They are not elected officials and should not be subjected to personal attacks simply because they are carrying out their professional responsibilities or implementing decisions made by council,” the Oct. 7 news release reads.

What the comments contained or who made them isn’t clear, nor is it clear who was targeted, but city manager Anthony Haddad said the nature of the comments were unacceptable.

“There is an important distinction between criticizing a decision and attacking the person who is doing their job,” he said in the news release. “Our employees should be able to come to work and serve this community without being subjected to this type of personal and degrading behaviour. We welcome legitimate public scrutiny and difficult conversations – that is part of local government – but there is no place for harassment, threats or personal attacks against our staff.”

The news release listed “personal attacks, degrading comments, sexualized remarks, threats or other forms of harassment directed at individual employees” as comments that cross the line from criticism to attacks, but it’s not clear whether those reported to police included threats.

In the meantime, city hall encouraged the public to express concerns through written submissions or by attending city council meetings.

Penticton RCMP did not immediately respond to comment on the investigation.