Ray Kelly Still Not Convinced This Twitter Thing Is a Good Idea

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 28: Commissioner of the New York City Police Department Ray Kelly attends the 2011 Skate for a Safe City hosted by the New York City Police Department at Wollman Rink, Central Park on March 28, 2011 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Stewart/WireImage) *** Local Caption *** Ray Kelly
Photo: Michael Stewart/2011 Michael Stewart

A day after DNAinfo revealed a Twitter account run by 76th Precinct commander Captain Jeffrey Schiff, which previously updated residents about local felons who were released from prison, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly spoke about the NYPD’s social-media protocol. He wants to “examine the whole issue,” adding,

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Obviously, social media, we want to use it productively. We want to use it legally. A lot of this is just new ground. It needs to be examined, and that’s what we’re going to do. We need, probably, a comprehensive approach to it, rather than a command-by-command, unit-by-unit, approach.”

The Twitter account @76PrecinctNYPD — previously managed by Schiff himself, but which hasn’t been updated since December 16, according to DNAinfo — has community members and legal-rights specialists arguing about the legality of the situation. While one side appreciates the dispensing of public information and the increase in communication between residents and police, the other believes it goes against the idea of paying time and coming out rehabilitated.

Brooklyn Precinct Twitter Feed No Longer Active