Commissioner Brushes Off #myNYPD Backlash: Photos Are ‘Old News’

CORRECTS SPELLING OF LAST NAME TO BRATTON, NOT BRATON - William Bratton listens during a news conference in New York, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2013. Bratton, whose tenure as New York City police commissioner in the 1990s wa... CORRECTS SPELLING OF LAST NAME TO BRATTON, NOT BRATON - William Bratton listens during a news conference in New York, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2013. Bratton, whose tenure as New York City police commissioner in the 1990s was marked by a steep decline in crime and clashes with then-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, has been chosen to lead the nation's largest police force again. New York Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio announced the appointment Thursday, saying Bratton is a "proven crime-fighter" who knows how to keep the city safe. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) MORE LESS
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New York Police Commissioner Bill Bratton was unfazed by and even pleased with the backlash from the department’s #myNYPD Twitter campaign.

“I kind of welcome the attention,” he said on Wednesday, according to the New York Daily News. “We really broke the numbers yesterday.”

On Tuesday, the NYPD invited people to submit photos of themselves with police officers, but people started tweeting photos of police brutality with the department’s hashtag. More than 110,000 Twitter accounts responded, according to the Daily News.

The backlash even spread to other cities, with people creating iterations like #myLAPD and #myELAS.

“Most of the pictures I looked at, they’re old news,” Bratton said on Wednesday. “They’ve been out there for a long time.”

“Often times police activities are lawful, but look awful,” he added.

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