NEW YORK (AP) — The first “NYPD: Most Wanted” video was intimidating.
Set to a pounding soundtrack, the montage cuts through stock images and body camera footage of real police raids. A fake gun is fired. A real police officer breaks down a door and shouts orders at a man sleeping on a couch.
Man shot dead with NYPD body camera after strangling mother and screaming with knife
As the jail key is turned, an NYPD lieutenant appears on screen to announce that a teenage suspect, not the one seen in the video earlier, has been arrested in the Bronx subway platform shooting. Announced.
Produced in-house by the New York City Police Department and promoted on its official social media channels, the dramatic two-minute clip highlights the nation’s largest police force’s commitment to engaging the public and influencing policy through a more active online presence. reflects a concerted effort.
This screen taken from X, formerly known as Twitter, shows a social media post by NYPD Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry on Monday, February 5, 2024, in New York. The New York City Police Department is taking a more active role in trying to influence public policy through sophisticated online videos and social media posts.
This strategic shift has drawn criticism from former NYPD officers and civil liberties groups, with police leaders using public resources to advance their own policy agendas or attack other public officials. They argue that it shouldn’t be done. But the NYPD isn’t backing down.
“We want to use social media to push back against the misinformation that’s out there,” Tariq Shepard, the NYPD’s chief spokesperson, said in an interview. “Because if we don’t, it could be damaging to the police department’s reputation and the work we do.”
In recent months, the station has added production-savvy staff to its communications department and plans to release a full-length documentary series later this year.
At the same time, police chiefs have been encouraged to be more vocal on social media and given the green light to go after judges and prosecutors deemed too lenient on crime, or to criticize public policies they oppose. Ta.
In a post shared last week on .
It was later discovered that the message incorrectly identified both the judge and prosecutor involved, but it had previously received dozens of hateful comments, including a photo of the judge. Some had been published.
“This is a blatant threat to the judiciary, and it’s dangerous and horrifying,” said Stephen Zeidman, director of the Criminal Defense Clinic at the City University of New York School of Law. “Their job is to investigate crimes, not to act as a spokesperson for inciting hatred and fear.”
Chell later apologized for the mistake, but it remains public on the ministry’s official Instagram and X accounts. NYPD officials said they would continue to hold the judge “accountable.”
The NYPD has long used social media to solicit information about crimes and share news of arrests and emergencies. But close observers of the department see both content and rhetoric escalating under New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a former police chief.
In recent weeks, the NYPD’s official account has gone after journalists by name, threatened to “flood” disruptive protesters into jails, and highlighted instances of low-level traffic crimes, with hundreds of people This coincided with Gov. Kathy Hochul’s decision to send in a. National Guard movement to the subway.
Video from last month showed Adams rallying police officers before the early morning raid on a public house. Three men are taken away in handcuffs, described by Deputy Director of Operations Kaz Daughtry as “immigrants preying on vulnerable New Yorkers.”
Zachary Toomin, a former NYPD official who oversaw the rollout of social media accounts to precinct commanders and chiefs starting in 2015, said officers were initially instructed to remain positive.
“The basic guidelines were: don’t attack, don’t personalize, don’t name names,” Tumin said. “The last thing we wanted to do was pick a fight with the public on social media.”
It is not uncommon for law enforcement officials to use social media to attack judges or specific policies, such as changes to bail laws. Elected sheriffs from Arizona to Florida are increasingly using social media as a tool to get their voices heard.
An analysis by the Brennan Center for Justice, a think tank at New York University School of Law, found that few departments maintain public guidance detailing how police use the platforms.
The section of the New York City Police Department’s administrative guide regarding the department’s social media accounts is not available online. Under the patrol guidelines, uniformed police officers (a group that includes chiefs) are prohibited from publicly expressing opinions on “public policy matters or legislation pending before any government agency.”
In January, multiple leaders shared videos opposing the City Council bill. The bill would require employees to record additional data about their interactions with citizens. The three-minute video, described as a “simulation,” showed a distraught mother asking police to find her missing child. The law purported to require police officers to record the race and gender of each witness who called for help, a feature the council objected to.
Another post by senior police officials pursuing independent journalists for allegedly spreading a “false narrative” about the treatment of pro-Palestinian protesters was later deleted without explanation.
An NYPD spokesperson declined to answer questions about why the post was removed. He also did not respond to inquiries about the amount spent on the department’s social media budget, which includes additional video production staff.
The NYPD’s new social strategy will soon move beyond written posts and short video clips to what Shepard describes as “long-form YouTube.”
In the coming months, the station plans to resume production on “True Blue: NYPD’s Finest,” a short-lived series that premiered to little attention last year, he said.
The previous two episodes of the series relied heavily on body-worn camera footage of dramatic chases narrated by law enforcement officials, resembling a locally produced version of the long-running TV series “Cops.” I did.
Michael Hallett, a professor of criminology at the University of North Florida who has studied the impact of “Cops,” said the NYPD’s foray into social media is a natural response to a digital media ecosystem that values speed and sensationalism. He said he was watching.
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He said body camera footage and the increasing use of drones have made it easier for police to produce their own reality series without the delays caused by television equipment or network schedules.
“They now have a proactive and sophisticated messaging system designed to deliver messages on behalf of the police agenda,” Hallett added. “They will have the upper hand in negotiations for control of the message.”
