Heads must be spinning in the MySpace PR department. Despite publicizing the efforts of the online community’s “security czar” and the announcement of new restrictions to protect teens, the negative publicity continues unabated.

Here are two recent stories from the man-bites-dog school:

Police Officers’ MySpace Sites Scrutinized

Controversy is brewing over some local officers who have profiles on MySpace.com.

Last week, a Marion County Deputy Brian Quinn, 26, lost his job because of what he’d posted on MySpace, WESH 2 News reported. Six police officers in Volusia County are under scrutiny for the same reason…

Edgewater police officer John Conley’s MySpace site features the officer in full uniform pointing his gun … “A handgun should not be taken out unless you know you’re going to have to use it or for training purposes,” said Chief John Taves.

Man Robbed by Teen Girls, Thought He was Meeting MySpace Friend

A Jacksonville man says he was duped and robbed by two girls after attempting to meet with a woman he met on the internet.

The victim says he chatted online with a woman, known on her MySpace.com profile as “Natalia”, for two weeks before deciding to meet with her … “I went to [the apartment] and knocked on the door, and there was no answer. So I called her and said, ‘I’m here’ and there was no answer.”

That is when two girls who were 14 and 15-years-old, approached him saying they knew Natalia, the girl he thought he’d be meeting … Now sensing something was wrong, he was ready to take off, but was stopped by a shocking discovery.

“[One of the girls] took [a] gun out and put it to my head and told me to empty my pockets.”…

Police did a search of the area and found the two teens with another male suspect. They searched a purse and found two loaded handguns.

MySpace is right to go proactive on the issue of security; they’ll need to do more, though. More thoughts in a previous post and its comment thread.