How do you spell “public relations disaster” if you’re the New York City Police Department? Easy—with a simple hashtag.
Earlier this afternoon, the NYPD’s official news Twitter account made a simple request: “Do you have a photo w/ a member of the NYPD? Tweet us & tag it #myNYPD. It may be featured on our Facebook.”
Let’s take a second to reminisce about some of the issues the NYPD has faced over the last year. First, there’s the city’s stop-and-frisk practices. New York City’s finest had a tough year when it came to defending their actions of profiling and calling it “keeping the city crime-free.”
Also, there were the allegations of “shopping while black,” involving numerous lawsuits that popped up alleging that the NYPD, along with department stores, specifically targeted people of color who were making expensive purchases.
But let’s not forget the always-present police-brutality and excessive-force issues.
Needless to say, it’s amazing that the NYPD thought #myNYPD was a novel idea. The NYPD just gave social media the ammunition it needed to put the NYPD on blast:
But not all of the photos submitted included acts of brutality. There are some NYPD officers who like to bump and grind while on duty:
A simple word of advice to the person behind the NYPDNews Twitter account: Think before you tweet!
Yesha Callahan is editor of The Grapevine and a staff writer at The Root. Follow her on Twitter.
Like The Root on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.
But not all of the photos submitted included acts of brutality. Some NYPD officers also like to bump and grind while on duty.
But not all of the photos submitted included acts of brutality. Some NYPD officers also like to bump and grind while on duty.