Yesterday afternoon, the NYPDset itself up for the troll with the #myNYPD debacle, where they asked people to tweet pictures of themselves with officers. Apparently unaware of their contentious relationship with the public, they were besieged by a flood of pictures like this:
"And we're going to have to run you over, just for good measure." #myNYPD pic.twitter.com/q6JMNAajxb
It proved to be yet another valuable lesson of what not to do when it comes to social media management. However, police brass aren't sweating the incident, which Commissioner Bill Bratton brushed off. "Most of the pictures I looked at, they’re old news," he told reporters. "They’ve been out there for a long time." Some might argue that this—and the fact that the relationship between police and the people they "protect and serve" is still strained—is the problem.
Regardless, Bratton doesn't mind the spotlight. "I kind of welcome the attention. We really broke the numbers yesterday," he added.
A law enforcement source reportedly told the New York Post that the department simply tweeted before thinking. Still, it was dismissed as the Twitter demographic—young people—seizing the opportunity to criticize police. "Good intentions by the NYPD, but . . . who uses Twitter? The younger generation who have had bad interactions with the Police Department."
The other issue at hand, police brutality, has been going on since long before Twitter existed. It's not just the younger generation.
Don't forget Abner Louima #myNYPD pic.twitter.com/Wc298Rfe1I
[via Gothamist, New York Daily News and New York Post]
RELATED: A Recent History of NYPD Brutality
RELATED: The Most Horrific #myNYPD Images on Twitter
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