New York City’s watchdog agency launches probe after complaints about the NYPD’s social media use

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York City’s watchdog agency has launched an investigation into allegations that the city’s police department improperly used its official social media accounts to target public officials and private citizens.

The city Department of Investigation confirmed the probe in a statement Wednesday, saying it was prompted by recent 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, a Democrat, in her Friday letter cited reports from The Associated Press and others highlighting how the department and some of its top officials have in recent months adopted a more aggressive online presence, using their accounts on the X platform to take on critics.

In one post featured in the reports, 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.

“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,” Adams said in a statement Friday.

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