@NYPDNEWS
Are the police perfect? NO
Have the police made mistakes? YES
Will mistakes continue to happen? They SURE WILL!
Was #myNYPD a mistake? ABSOLUTELY NOT. In fact I love it and I know many others love it as well. I applaud the NYPD for doing this. For reaching out and saying, “Send us a pic.” There is no doubt in my mind that the leadership that put together the idea and launched it across Twitter yesterday had to have known what has happened was a certain possibility. (If it wasn’t considered then perhaps they need some help.)
Did they expect 24 hours later it would have become a global hashtag? Probably not.
The NYPD has shown courage in doing this. They are smart and resourceful. They have done something very few agencies do. They actually reached out and wanted to hear from their communities and come hell or high water, they are taking it all in.
Looking at many of the images from the #myNYPD stream I can’t help but wonder how many of these pictures are from individuals in the pictures or have they just been Googled and posted for the controversial impact? Next thing of note…the number of anonymous people and people who look like Guy Fawkes. More credibility just oozing out of the opposition to the NYPD. Lets not forget how I feel about them.
Between some of the nasty pictures….perhaps now is also a good time to mention that a picture is a snapshot in time, there were a few really great community submitted photos. A photo shows neither context or situation. A person being carried by the police bleeding can be:
- Under arrest
- Being removed from a dangerous situation for their protection
- Being extricated from a violent crowd
- The victim of a beating not by police
- A police officer
Unless there is context there is no way of knowing. Even if it is a person under arrest and they are bleeding I still say, “I need to know more.” As should anyone with even one tenth of an active brain because no one knows from a picture what led to the bleeding.
If every picture that was posted were of beatings and bad activity, then the NYPD would be no more because human rights law suits and constitutional law suits would have been so many and so one-sided that there just would be no more NYPD at all.
This is by no means a fail for the NYPD. In fact, this can be a big win for them. They have something that few departments have. A baseline measurement for public satisfaction and sentiment (albeit, not scientific nor accurate). They can build on it and do it again next month, and the month after that and the month after that.
I applaud NYPD and laugh at the detractors. 
#myNYPD has also decided to move into the global realm. Funny enough, pictures have shown up on other #my____ sites from the New York site. Even more credibility. It looks kind of desperate doesn’t it?
I love what the commissioner of the NYPD said, “I kind of like the attention.” Bill Bratton went on to say, “Often times police activities are lawful, but look awful.” Once again, the snapshot in time. What is the whole story behind a pic. Was it at the end or the beginning of an event? What Commissioner Bratton said is a great statement that it seems very few police leaders are actually willing to say anymore. Policing is not always pretty. In fact it can get down right dirty when you’re fighting for your life. People don’t call 9-1-1 when life is great. It’s when bad things are happening and they need the good guys to come in and help.
Honesty, this isn’t even NYPD
Way to go NYPD…can’t wait to see it next month. And the month after and the month after. Don’t pull back, don’t hide. Come out stronger and more aggressive. The world needs to know what the good side of policing is like. I wish we could have talked beforehand, this could have gone better because we would have laid out all the possibilities, the options for doing this which would have been safer and more provider controlled and for sure, we would of had a lot of fun with it!
Here is #MyPD
Officer giving a helping hand
If you are a police agency thinking of doing this you will definitely want to avoid the key mistake that the @NYPDNews made with this campaign, they overlooked who actually controls the information on the Internet and social networks in today’s information economy.
Reblogged this on shino/tanaka and commented:
One of the best theories behind #MyNYPD. An utter lack of sound judgement? Maybe. Sheer brilliance? More likely.
Thanks Shino. I look to the later, but still question the timing and the construction of the process. We’ll find out.
You’re avoiding the fact that there are so many pictures that speak the truth. The fact that articles and actual events actually came out that prove police brutality is something that needs to be acknowledged. Your article seems like a very close minded one with information that you have hand picked and mass information that you are choosing to ignore. Where are the “misleading images” because all I saw was undeniable TRUTH! It’s a person who already has their mind up to not believe the truth that will think of a way to excuse it. Of course a person would look for evidence beyond the pictures, but there were actual articles, actual murders to innocent people and actual events that can not be sugar coated. A rational thinking human being will not see these and think “oh, this whole thing is a hoax. Let me pull out the 10% of good pictures and tell people these cops are making normal mistakes.” WHEN THAT IS NOT TRUE SIR! Police brutality is a real issue that can not be swept under the rug! And to preceive these honest responses as slander and not trying to raise awareness out love is COMPLETELY IGNORANT!
First, thank you for taking the time to read the post and to comment on it.
I agree…police brutality can’t be ignored, minimized or marginalized. It has to be addressed. One of the problems that I see is that often times police brutality is named when in fact there never was brutality (upheld by courts or internal discipline reviews). When this happens, then the entire notion of police brutality loses it’s impact and becomes just another ctch phrase which is not acceptable. Real police brutality can never be minimized and needs to be routed out.
Good for you Tim. Could not agree with you more. Remember #CopChat? A very constructive forum to allow police and the public to interact…..yet ‘Anonymous’ and there fellow detractors pulled a similar type of effort. Its too bad when some are entirely focussed on the dark and refuse to see any light.
Oh I remember it well. It will return.
So that was a bit of a PR disaster for NYPD.. never mind what Commissioner Bratton has said about positive reinforcement of the engagement. There’s no way to spin #myNYPD as a good outcome for either the police force or the city of New York..
http://tommygilchrist.wordpress.com/2014/04/23/when-social-media-implodes/
As it stands no…it’s not really a positive. In the future it sure can be though.
Thought you might like the follow-up Tim:
http://tommygilchrist.wordpress.com/2014/04/24/twitter-and-the-nypd/
Tommy….I was reading your piece when you sent this. Great timing!!
You have put together a great post there and I left a comment on it. Thanks for adding this to the discussion and the thought you put into your piece. Well done.
Thanks Tim! Much appreciated.. I suspect the fallout from this hasn’t yet died away and there’ll need to be further statements from Bratton on the issue. Looking at Twazzup’s TPH on the #myNYPD, the frequency has increased from ~750 as I was writing the article to around 1200 at the moment. What they don’t need is for the hashtag to start trending again.