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NYPD's Twitter Campaign Backfires

Posted by samzenpus on from the hug-a-cop dept.

An anonymous reader writes "A NYPD community outreach campaign designed to show images of citizens with cops turned ugly quickly when a deluge of images depicting police brutality came in. From the article: 'The responses soon turned ugly when Occupy Wall Street tweeted a photograph of cops battling protesters with the caption "changing hearts and minds one baton at a time." Other photos included an elderly man bloodied after being arrested for jaywalking.' Police Commissioner Bill Bratton says, 'I kind of welcome the attention,' of the #myNYPD project."

22 of 173 comments (clear)

  1. At least it wasn't goatse by mythosaz · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...well, there were batons.

    1. Re:At least it wasn't goatse by kdawson+(3715) · · Score: 5, Informative

      4 those not understanding, hear's the concept of goatse.

    2. Re:At least it wasn't goatse by Lord+Kano · · Score: 5, Funny

      This might be the first time in the history of the internet that a goatse link was actually informative.

      LK

      --
      "Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
  2. I kind of welcome the attention by wiredlogic · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Well now we know of one more sociopath who is gainfully employed.

    --
    I am becoming gerund, destroyer of verbs.
    1. Re:I kind of welcome the attention by NoKaOi · · Score: 5, Insightful

      He also said:

      The photos are "old news," Bratton said. "They’ve been out there for a long time."

      Well, Commissioner Bratton, since these photos are old news and you are welcoming the attention they are getting, I'm sure you'd be happy to share with us what sort of investigation into these incidents there were and what punishment the officers received?

    2. Re:I kind of welcome the attention by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      That was what struck me at first, upon reading the article.

      "The photos are 'old news,' Bratton said."
      "'They’ve been out there for a long time.'"

      That's their public image. That's what the people they serve, and the people around the country, see them as. He's the boss... and he can't be bothered to give a shit. Clearly the problems with the NYPD go all the way to the top. Above Commissioner Bratton. Since this problem spans multiple mayoral administrations we have to just ask... does a politicians political appointees EVER represent the best choices for their constituency, or only the administration doing the appointing?

    3. Re:I kind of welcome the attention by fustakrakich · · Score: 5, Funny

      Do some ride-alongs with cops and see the entire story.

      A few friends of mine have. They said these new patrol cars have very little legroom, and that's it's very hard to sit comfortably with their hands tied behind their back.

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    4. Re:I kind of welcome the attention by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Exactly. Like when Kelly Thompson was beaten to death by police. There was full video of the whole incident showing that 1) the police had no reason to bother him, other than the fact that he was homeless, 2) he was not resisting arrest or refusing orders, and 3) even when they clearly had him detained, they continued to taz, kick, punch, etc..

      Now that all seems rather damning, except you weren't there on the ride with the police! One of them had a bad day earlier, so that makes it acceptable to beat people to death. At least, the judge seemed to think so.

    5. Re:I kind of welcome the attention by jcr · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I'm sure all the perps were sternly admonished to avoid cameras before beating people up in the future.

      -jcr

      --
      The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
    6. Re:I kind of welcome the attention by AK+Marc · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I have done ride alongs. The police assume everyone is a criminal. There are only two types of people. Cops and criminals. We never played "cops and innocent bystanders" as kids. We are trained that there are two sides. Long gone are the beat cops that proactively prevented crime by building relationships with the neighborhood. The cops swoop in arrest everyone, and let the lawyers sort it out. Cops that want to rise will work on beating out confessions to protect conviction rates. After all, if you are talking to a cop, you are a criminal, they just might not have proven it yet.

      No, a ride along doesn't give justification as to why the armed cop is beating the unarmed person. The number one reason people are beat is "contempt of cop". If you don't follow orders fast enough, you are resisting. If you are resisting arrest, they can beat you. That's how it's done.

      --
      Learn to love Alaska
    7. Re:I kind of welcome the attention by Ash+Vince · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I have done ride alongs. The police assume everyone is a criminal. There are only two types of people. Cops and criminals. We never played "cops and innocent bystanders" as kids. We are trained that there are two sides. Long gone are the beat cops that proactively prevented crime by building relationships with the neighborhood. The cops swoop in arrest everyone, and let the lawyers sort it out. Cops that want to rise will work on beating out confessions to protect conviction rates. After all, if you are talking to a cop, you are a criminal, they just might not have proven it yet.

      No, a ride along doesn't give justification as to why the armed cop is beating the unarmed person. The number one reason people are beat is "contempt of cop". If you don't follow orders fast enough, you are resisting. If you are resisting arrest, they can beat you. That's how it's done.

      I think one solution to this is for us to remind them they are actually our public servants as often as possible. If you are lost, then go up and ask them for directions if they seem to be standing around doing nothing. Hell, maybe even ask them if you are not lost just so they get to talk to a law abiding citizen for a change. Then, if they are helpful, be polite and courteous and make sure you say thanks.

      They will still have to deal with utter some scumbags, but maybe if they spent more time dealing with people who are not then they might find it easier to not treat everyone like they are.

      --
      I dont read /. to RTFA, I read /. to offend people in ignorance.
    8. Re:I kind of welcome the attention by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      I don't know anyone who thinks the police "can do no wrong". Police are people just like the rest of us. The vast majority of them are stand up individuals who are honestly trying to help. The problem with these videos, is that they show a small fraction of everything police do, but have the effect of making it appear that all police are corrupt power hungry violent tempered men. So, as I've said before....comdemn those who misbehave and get them off the force, but stand behind those who risk their lives to make this a better and safer place to live.

  3. If they were interested in upholding the law... by NoKaOi · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...then they wouldn't consider this a failure. Truth and evidence should never be considered a failure. Identifying police brutality so that those individual cops can be punished, and thus hopefully prevent other cops from doing the same, should be considered a success. But obviously that's not how it works.

    There are plenty of good cops out there, but by not punishing the bad cops it makes them all look bad.

    1. Re:If they were interested in upholding the law... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      There are plenty of good cops out there, but by not punishing the bad cops it makes them all look bad.
      Uh, no. By not punishing the "bad cops" those "good cops" become "bad cops". It's really that simple. It's also why as a species, humanity is fucked.

    2. Re:If they were interested in upholding the law... by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 5, Insightful

      There are plenty of good cops out there, but by not punishing the bad cops it makes them all look bad.

      Does it merely make them look bad? A bad cop is a more dangerous criminal than most of the people the cops are there to deal with. If the 'good cops' aren't enthusiastically hunting them down, I'd say that they are ineffectual at best and complicit at worst, not merely sullied by unfortunate proximity.

    3. Re:If they were interested in upholding the law... by Guest316 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      No, there are good cops. They can be found in good PDs where bad cops aren't tolerated. But when you have bad cops, you can be pretty sure their PD, its culture, and their union are all part of the problem.

      And naturally the bad ones get the most publicity, which isn't fair even though it's to be expected.

    4. Re:If they were interested in upholding the law... by ArchieBunker · · Score: 5, Informative

      Look what happened to this guy when he tried to blow the whistle on all the bad cops http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A...

      They abducted him and had him admitted to a mental hospital for six days!

      --
      Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
    5. Re:If they were interested in upholding the law... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      Comparing Snowden to this NYDP officer does the officer a great deal of injustice.

      Rosa Parks sat on a bus and got arrested for it. She didn't move to the soviet Union to tell us how great their buses are.

      Snowden did not "move to the Soviet Union". The U.S. government illegally pulled his passport (he was not under accusation and still isn't) and stranded him in the Soviet Union. And now filthy and documented liars and perjurers like Clapper and Holder put on crocodile tears over Snowden having to cope with the situation they are responsible for.

  4. Re:Some of these are overreaction by AK+Marc · · Score: 5, Insightful

    One of these shows a police officer pinning a guy to the ground with his knee so that he can cuff him (presumably after the guy already did something wrong and tried to resist arrest.) That is hardly what I'd call brutality.

    I've seen full video for something like that. The person was compliant, but the police treated him roughly anyway, knowing that the abuse apologists like you would justify it.

    --
    Learn to love Alaska
  5. Re:Ug, wrong target people. by ClioCJS · · Score: 5, Insightful

    By that logic, the Nazis who killed Jews were just doing what they were hired for. Fuck you and your fallacious logic.

    --
    -Clio
    Karma: Bad (mostly from not giving a fuck)
    Blog: http://clintjcl.wordpress.com
  6. Re:willfully ignorant by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    No, but you apparently intend to remain willfully ignorant of the whole point of what I was saying. Maybe you should start by taking a look at the case I mentioned?

    Police corruption is a real thing. Even when there is incredibly strong evidence, detailing everything that happened, police still band together and cover each other when they fuck up. Sometimes, the result is that they get away with a minor offense such as a traffic violation, and other times it directly results in the death of another person. If you honestly think it is acceptable for police to behave in that sort of fashion, then there's something wrong with you.

  7. Re:no evidence for that statement by dltaylor · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Nonsense.

    The "bad cop busted" is still news, and the "hero cop does the bust" just makes it better news. I have NEVER heard of a "bad cop" bust (and there have been many over my lifetime) where it was a "good cop" on his force that did it. It has always been outsiders.