High NYPD officers had been slammed for a sequence of “hostile” social media posts the place they routinely lashed out at politicians, reporters and activists, a scathing new report claims.
NYPD Chief of Division John Chell, NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kaz Daughtry and an NYPD Information account run by public spokespeople for the division acted “irresponsible and unprofessional” and broke citywide insurance policies with a sequence of untamed public takedowns, mentioned the report, launched Tuesday by the Division of Investigation.
The clashes included an occasion the place Chell referred to as a metropolis councilwoman’s tweet “rubbish.”
On the request of Metropolis Council Speaker Adrienne Adams final spring, the DOI’s Workplace of the Inspector Basic examined social media posts made on X by official NYPD accounts.
The report mentioned NYPD’s social media insurance policies on the time the posts had been made had been ill-equipped to make sure posts on government accounts had been “courteous, correct, and in compliance with related legal guidelines and laws.”
The probe analyzed greater than 10,000 posts made throughout the three accounts between January 2022 by September 2024 and concluded NYPD used the platform to interact in “direct and typically hostile exchanges.”
The report famous a lot of the posts had been “had been informative, courteous, and acceptable” however there have been some “problematic” posts the place NYPD officers expressed opinions bordering on “political discourse” — one thing NYPD executives are required to keep away from.
In one put up Chell took a jab at Queens Councilwoman Tiffany Caban, calling her assertion criticizing NYPD’s response to pro-Palestinian protestors “rubbish.”
“I began to learn this rubbish and rapidly realized that is coming from an individual who hates our metropolis and definitely doesn’t signify the good individuals of NYC,” Chell tweeted about Caban.
In one other put up, Chell accused a New York Supreme Courtroom Justice who granted a suspect bail of “failing to do her job” by releasing “a predator again into the neighborhood, who could also be in your subsequent practice, or strolling the streets of our metropolis, on the lookout for his subsequent sufferer.”
Daughtry then amplified Chell’s message tweeting “it’s time for an additional episode of the “Revolving Door of NYC Prison Justice!”
DOI inspectors mentioned the posts may put the decide “susceptible to hurt.”
“In mild of latest threats of violence, and acts of violence towards judges, naming and criticizing a person justice, and claiming that the justice has created a security threat to the neighborhood may probably put the justice susceptible to hurt,” the report famous.
In one other put up, Daughtry referred to as a New York Every day Information columnist who had issued a retraction after incorrectly reporting the variety of subway homicides that yr a “gadfly” and nicknamed him “deceitful.”
The journalist, Harry Siegel, responded to ask Chell to talk with him privately concerning the reporting error. The NYPDNews account responded to point out assist for Chell’s posts.
On the time Mayor Eric Adams additionally expressed assist for Chell’s posts saying, “I don’t suppose they attacked anybody, if a columnist has a proper to an opinion, a police officer has the appropriate to an opinion,” in line with an article in Metropolis & State.
A police spokesperson mentioned the NYPD had already made updates to enhance its social media insurance policies following the backlash final yr.
“We recognize DOI’s complete report,” an NYPD spokesperson mentioned. “Because the report notes, the NYPD has already made important adjustments to its social media practices. We look ahead to reviewing the report and proposals.”
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