by Jeroslyn JoVonn
January 29, 2025
High-ranking NYPD officers are accused of being unprofessional on social media.
The New York Metropolis Division of Investigation is asking out prime NYPD officers whose social media posts mirror “irresponsible and unprofessional” conduct.
A 44-page report launched on Jan. 28 revealed that NYPD executives’ social media accounts violated metropolis insurance policies regarding “courtesy and civility.” Notable offenders included NYPD Chief of Division John Chell and Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry, Gothamist experiences.
Based mostly on the findings, the DOI mentioned a few of the on-line conduct stays inconclusive however did “increase questions” about whether or not the social media posts “could also be deemed prohibited engagement in political exercise by metropolis staff.”
“New York Metropolis deserves public officers who use social media responsibly, to speak correct data and to immediate respectful dialogue on problems with significance to the neighborhood, and never as a method to ridicule these with whom they disagree,” DOI Commissioner Jocelyn E. Strauber mentioned in an announcement.
“No facet of the social media exchanges that DOI reviewed on this investigation served the general public.”
The NYPD, the nation’s largest police division, employs practically 50,000 personnel and aced scrutiny final yr for representing a combative tradition. Among the many combative behaviors embrace tweets from the NYPD’s government workers the place posts on X focused numerous people, together with a Supreme Courtroom choose, journalists, public members, and elected officers.
In 2024, Chell tweeted that sitting Councilmember Tiffany Cabán “hates our metropolis.” He shared the tweet after Cabán critiqued the NYPD’s response to anti-Israel protests on faculty campuses. In a follow-up tweet, he advised his followers to “vote the change you search,” an announcement that, in accordance with the report, may doubtlessly breach the Hatch Act, a federal legislation that restricts political actions of presidency staff concerned in federal packages.
There have been a number of situations the place Chell and Daughtry have been accused of assigning mocking nicknames to journalists whom they accused of spreading false details about the administration’s accomplishments. Investigators have decided that the web assaults violated elementary inside pointers.
“They violated division insurance policies associated to being courteous and civil, and lift questions with respect as to if they could be deemed prohibited engagement in political exercise by Metropolis staff,” the report reads.
The NYPD responded to the report by a spokesperson, stating that the division has carried out “important modifications to its social media practices” because the investigation started final yr. Nonetheless, no phrase has been given on whether or not any officers would face penalties for breaching division coverage.
RELATED CONTENT: NYPD Warns US Healthcare Executives About On-line ‘Hitlist’ After UnitedHealthcare CEO Assassination
