New York City’s watchdog agency launched an investigation into allegations that the police department improperly used its official social media accounts to target public officials and private citizens, the Associated Press reports. The Department of Investigation confirmed the probe on Wednesday, saying it was prompted by requests from City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and the Legal Aid Society asking it to look into the NYPD’s social media policies and practices. Adams cited reports from AP and others highlighting how the department and some of its top officials have adopted a more aggressive online presence, using their accounts on the X platform to take on critics.
In one post, Chief of Patrol John Chell said a Democratic city councilmember who had criticized the NYPD for arresting pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University “hates our city.” In another post, from February, Chell misidentified a judge in a criminal case, falsely accusing her of letting a “predator” loose on the city’s streets. Adams said, "The recent deployment of official NYPD social media accounts to aggressively target public officials and civilians in our city, use dog whistles that can lead to threats and violence, and convey inaccurate information, is dangerous, unethical and unprofessional." The Legal Aid Society backed Adams’ request, and also accused the police department of using social media “unprofessionally and unethically” to discredit pro-Palestinian protesters at local colleges. The legal aid group cited X posts from Chell and NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kaz Daughtry after police cleared campus encampments. One post said "a book on TERRORISM” was found at Columbia University's Hamilton Hall among items including ear plugs, helmets, goggles, knives and ropes that were “not the tools of students protesting” but rather of “people working on something nefarious.” The title was a nonfiction book published by Oxford University Press.