#MyNYPD Images Turn Ugly

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On the site knowyourmeme.com, there is an article focused on #MyNYPD. The page is a hashtag campaign launched by the New York Police Department as a community outreach program on Twitter. While meant as a lighthearted social media event to boost the image of the NYPD, the hashtag stream quickly became flooded with photographs of its uniformed officers resorting to violence. On April 22nd, 2014 the NYPD tweeted a message asking its followers to share their photographs with NYPD police officers using the hashtag #MyNYPD.”It may be featured on our Facebook,” @NYPDnews tweeted.

Including many photographs that had gone viral during the height of the Occupy Wall Street protests, the NYPD’s community outreach hashtag, although initially met with genuine responses from its followers on Twitter, soon turned into what was met with, an all-day exhibition of images that were depicting police brutality and racial profiling. It has been reported that, according to Topsy, the hashtag #MyNYPD was mentioned more than 180,000 times on April 22nd, 2014. The flood of photos they received in response to their request could not have been what they expected. According to ABC News, people started to attach the hashtag to pictures and also to videos depicting scenes of alleged police violence. Tweeters documented countless instances of beatings caught on camera.

  

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The New York Police Department was probably expecting positive photos to pour in about the Department’s work. They likely were hoping for more images like the one @RyanNewYork took in Times Square, Feb 2010 of Minnie Mouse getting arrested and shared with #myNYPD.

In an email, NYPD Deputy Chief Kim Royster sent to ABC News affiliate WABC in New York, according to Crain’s New York Business, said that the uncensored and open dialogue was good for the city. According to Gawker, the NYPD’s outreach plan has backfired in the most predictable way possible.

It has been reported that, the backlash also spread to the Los Angeles police department where #myLAPD began to trend as well. If you would like more information about employment opportunities with the NYPD click here. 

Image Credit: www.sbs.com.au