NYPD Happy Snaps Unlikely
In a move which shows how disconnected public relations staff can be from reality, the New York police department Twitter account posted this suggestion –
“Do you have a photo w/ a member of the NYPD? Tweet us & tag it #myNYPD. It may be featured on our Facebook,” the department posted on its NYPD News Twitter feed, hoping to fuel a feel-good, low-cost public relations campaign.
As could easily have been predicted given the history of the NYPD instead of feel good images, images of police brutality filled the Twitter profile.
Images and tweets of many arrests went viral, including an officer pulling the hair of a handcuffed young black woman and another of the bloodied face of an 84-year-old stopped for jaywalking.
One image showing police after striking a protester brought the remark “Here the #NYPD engages with its community members, changing hearts and minds one baton at a time.”
Also largely criticized was the unpopular “stop and frisk” policy, which unfairly targets minority youth.
NYPDs ‘finest’ moments include –
1999 – 4 officers shoot Amadou Diallo a total of 41 times outside his apartment
2006 – 3 men shot at a total of 51 times by plain clothes and undercover police. Sean Bell was killed the morning before his wedding
2012 – Cop fatally shoots unarmed black teen in front of his grandmother and 6-year-old brother in their Bronx home.
2012 – unarmed Noel Polanco fatally shot by officer after being pulled over while driving home.
More information on NYPD murders here.