NYPD officials have been taking courses at “Twitter school”

Police departments around North America have gradually, if warily, come to embrace social media as a way of communicating with their communities. But things can quickly go awry on Facebook and Twitter, a lesson the New York Police Department learned in April when a photo contest designed to showcase friendly photos of citizens with police officers was taken over by images of police aggressively subduing people. A month after the #myNYPD fiasco, top NYPD officials have been taking courses in using Twitter effectively, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The New York Police Department’s commanders are highly trained veterans capable of wrangling hardened criminals and rookie officers. Sharing their thoughts in 140 characters without a gaffe is another matter. Since May, the department’s top brass has endured training unlike any they have taken since the Police Academy—Twitter School. At the most recent course, earlier this month at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Midtown Manhattan, 16 commanders spent six hours hunched over keyboards and listening to lectures from the department’s social media team. “What is Twitter?” read one PowerPoint slide. Another explained how to send a tweet. Good ideas: Dad humor. Using hashtags. Animal rescues. “A lot of people seem to like when you post kittens or dogs,” said Detective Jeff Thompson. Bad ideas: Using military time. Seeming insensitive. Falling for scams. “If a Nigerian prince contacts you on Twitter, please do not engage,” said lead trainer Martha Norrick, the NYPD’s director of citizen and workforce engagement who worked for President Barack Obama’s campaign.