Twitter’s Take on #MyNYPD Not Exactly What NYPD Hoped For

It’s always a bit entertaining to watch misguided social media
moves backfire. But there’s a particular poetic justice when the
moves are made by conceiveable villains like politicians or J.P.
Morgan or…the New
York City Police Department (NYPD). On Tuesday, the @NYPDnews
asked people on Twitter to post photos of themselves with
officers, using the hashtag #MyNYPD. You can probably imagine how
this went ….

After a few friendly posts, the response quickly shifted to
folks using the #MyNYPD
hashtag to highlight police brutality and abuse.

@MoreAndAgain: You might not have known this, but the NYPD
can help you with that kink in your neck. #MyNYPD

@OCongress:
50 years of #NYPD brutality on minority youth. Bet you won’t
feature this on your Facebook. #myNYPD @NYPDnews

NYPD Deputy Chief Kim Y. Royster tried to put a positive spin on
things. “The NYPD is creating new ways to communicate effectively
with the community,” she said in a short statement. “Twitter
provides an open forum for an uncensored exchange and this is an
open dialogue good for our city.”

@TORYRVGXR: No
problem, I have a photo wit 4! RT @NYPDnews Do you have a photo w/
a member of the NYPD? Tweet us & tag it #myNYPD

For a while on Tuesday the #MyNYPD hashtag was among the top 10
trending topics on Twitter, not just for New York City but around
the world, according to
The New York Times.

@NYSpanish: The
way they are trained to twist your neck!! : This lady #MyNYPD is
stronger than Superman

An unnamed “law enforcement source”
told the New York Post that the department
didn’t think it through, because “who uses Twitter? The younger
generation who have had bad interactions with the Police
Department.” Yes, clearly only those pesky millenials have had bad
run-ins with the cops …