This Gawker post is an interesting anecdote reflecting how out-of-touch the police department is with tech.
So NYPD tweets now. In an attempt to, I don’t know, boost morale, @NYPDnews tweeted “Do you have a photo w/ a member of the NYPD? Tweet us and tag it #myNYPD. It may be featured on our Facebook.”
And shockingly unshocking, the pics they received were not so many friendly shots of people high-fiving their neighborhood beat officer, but more like photos of police bloodying people up and slamming faces into Crown Victoria hoods.
I couldn’t not think of the part in the now famous Amanda Hess article when she tries to file a police report re: her cyber stalker’s twitter harassment. When she references a tweet that threatens to decapitate her and rape her neck-hole, the officer asked what twitter was. And the general theme of police response was instructing her to just close her laptop and do something else. Easier said than done for a writer. Granted that was the Palm Springs Police Department, but still.
Will police care a wee bit more about cyberbullying when they’re the target? duh, no. Not that this really is bullying given the target’s inherent power, numbers, absent right to privacy, and government stature.