Earlier this week, the New York Post reported that the NYPD had been given directives on using social media: Be funny. “Tasteful humor is good,” the Twitter handbook (yes, really) said.
So to test out its Twitter schtick, the New York Police Department’s Midtown South precinct posted a photo of an arrested woman in an Elmo outfit with the message: “Just another day in Midtown South. Elmo arrested in Times Square.”
We don’t know where exactly embarrassing someone arrested for panhandling in a sting operation falls on the “tasteful” scale, but there you go.
According to a local ABC affiliate:
Thirty-seven-year-old Rosa Sanchez, of Clifton, New Jersey is charged with aggressive solicitation.
She was arrested by 10 plain-clothes officers posing as tourists who took photos with her.
They took her into custody after she demanded cash in exchange for the pictures
There has recently been a crackdown on costumed characters asking tourists for tips in Times Square. Surely the NYPD’s Twitter stream will be keeping followers up-to-date if things with Hello Kitty get out of line.
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