What you should know
- The strategic shift has drawn criticism from former police officials and civil liberties groups who say department leaders should not use public resources to promote their own political agenda or attack other public officials.
- At the same time, the NYPD has encouraged police chiefs to be more vocal on social media, giving them the green light to go after judges and prosecutors considered too soft on crime and criticize public policies that police oppose.
- The NYPD has long used social media to solicit crime tips and share news about arrests and emergencies. But close observers of the department see an escalation in both content and rhetoric under New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a former police captain.
NEW YORK — The first video for “NYPD: Most Wanted” was intended to be intimidating.
Over a thumping soundtrack, the montage alternates between archival footage and body camera footage from real police raids. A fake gun is fired. Real officers break down a door and bark orders at a man asleep on a couch.
As a key turns in the lock of a jail cell, a New York City police officer appears on screen to announce the arrest of a teenage suspect (not the person seen in the video moments before) in a shooting. on a Bronx subway platform.
Produced in-house by the New York Police Department and promoted through its official social media channels, the dramatic two-minute clip reflects a concerted effort by the nation’s largest police force to engage the public and influence policy through through a more aggressive online presence.
The strategic shift has drawn criticism from former police officials and civil liberties groups who say department leaders should not use public resources to promote their own political agenda or attack other public officials. But the NYPD hasn’t backed down.
“We want to go to social media and combat the misinformation that’s out there,” Tarik Sheppard, the NYPD’s top spokesman, told The Associated Press. “Because if we don’t, we could damage the reputation of our police officers and the work that we’re doing.”
In recent months, the department has added expert production staff to its communications arm, with plans to launch a full-length documentary series later this year.
At the same time, it has encouraged police chiefs to be more vocal on social media, giving them the green light to go after judges and prosecutors considered too lenient on crime and criticize public policies that police oppose.
In a post shared on drugs.
It was later discovered that the message had misidentified both the judge and prosecutor involved, though not before generating dozens of hateful comments, some of them featuring the judge’s photo.
“It is an overt form of intimidation against the judiciary, which is dangerous and frightening,” said Steven Zeidman, director of CUNY Law’s criminal defense clinic. “Their job is to investigate crimes, not to act as spokespersons to spew hate and generate fear.”
Chell later apologized for the mistake, although it remains posted on the department’s official Instagram and X accounts. NYPD officials said they would continue to hold judges accountable.
The NYPD has long used social media to solicit crime tips and share news about arrests and emergencies. But close observers of the department see an escalation in both content and rhetoric under New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a former police captain.
In recent weeks, official NYPD accounts have pursued journalists by name, threatened to “flood” jails with disruptive protesters, and highlighted cases of low-level traffic crimes, a move that coincided with Gov. Kathy Hochul’s decision to send hundreds of National Guard members to the subway system.
A video from last month showed Adams rallying officers before an early morning raid on a public housing building. Three men are taken away in handcuffs, described by Kaz Daughtry, the deputy commissioner for operations, as “immigrants preying on vulnerable New Yorkers.”
Zachary Tumin, a former NYPD official who oversaw the rollout of social media accounts for commanders and precinct chiefs starting in 2015, said police officers were initially instructed to maintain a positive tone.
“The basic guidelines were: don’t attack, don’t personalize and don’t name,” Tumin said. “picking fights on social media with members of the public… was something we wanted to stay away from.”
It is not uncommon for law enforcement officials to use social media to attack judges and specific policies, such as changes to bail laws. Elected sheriffs from Arizona to Florida have increasingly embraced social media as a tool to push their own narratives.
An analysis by the Brennan Center for Justice, a think tank at New York University School of Law, found that very few departments maintain public guidance detailing how police are making use of the platforms.
The section of the NYPD administrative guide that discusses the department’s social media accounts is not available online. According to the patrol guide, uniformed police officers – a group that includes chiefs – are prohibited from publicly expressing opinions on “any matter of public policy or legislation pending before any government agency.”
In January, several chiefs shared a video opposing a City Council bill that would require officers to record additional data about their interactions with the public. The three-minute clip, described as a “simulation”, showed a desperate mother asking police for help to locate her missing son. She claimed the law would require officers to record the race and sex of every witness they asked for help, a characterization the council disputed.
Another set of posts shared by senior police leaders going after an independent journalist for allegedly spreading “false narratives” about the treatment of pro-Palestinian protesters. Those posts were later deleted without explanation.
2024-03-09 00:50:13
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