NYPD's Twitter Campaign Backfires When People Post Photos of Police Brutality

An NYPD social media campaign backfired when the police department asked New Yorkers for photos with cops and Twitter erupted with unflattering pictures of officers making arrests, tangling with citizens and in some cases wielding their weapons.

 

The department on Tuesday asked followers on its official Twitter account, @NYPDNews, to post photos of themselves with officers:

 

"Do you have a photo with a member of the NYPD? Tweet us & tag it #myNYPD."

 

The #myNYPD hashtag quickly took off when people began tweeting photos that the NYPD would probably rather not highlight. The hashtag became a trending topic, drawing responses from around the world. 

 

Many of the photos showed the NYPD wrestling with demonstrators and pointing or swinging weapons at civilians. Few included any context.