The idea was to collect photos of officers in their communities, all tagged 'mynypd.'
But "biscuit boom" responded, 'sure thing,' and posted a photo of him being arrested in the back of a cop. "Dave hall" captured a picture at a Yankees game last year of an officer cuffing someone.
"I'm pretty sure they got some that they liked and some that they didn't," said tourist Hamzah Goodson. "I can imagine probably more that they didn't. But at least they're trying to do something ... it's better than nothing."
An email from Deputy Chief Kim Royster said that the social media platform Twitter "provides an open forum for an uncensored exchange and this is an open dialogue good for our city."
"I think it could be a PR move if it was done appropriately, if it was done the right way," said Donna Connolly, a tourist.
Ayana Thomas, of Flatbush resident, said she thinks the campaign is a good idea. "Because the cops are a very important part of our community and we should want to take pictures with the police," she said. "We should know who is policing our areas."
The NYPD's Twitter account shows plenty of pictures with people and police, smiling and happy. But as Royster acknowledged in her email, the "uncensored exchange" leaves social media users plenty of opportunities to post photos that are less then flattering.
This story comes to us from our sister station, WABC-TV, in New York.