Breaking: Brooklyn Cop Using Internet

Internet-savvy Capt. Kenneth Corey

The notoriously Luddite NYPD—they still use typewriters for most paperwork—has a technological visionary in their midst. Though most people know the Internet is just a passing fad, crazy Capt. Kenneth Corey at the 76th Precinct in Brooklyn thinks it should be used to communicate with concerned citizens. So he frequently sends electronic mail, or "e-mail," to a growing subscriber list, informing them of local crime news. But is the NYPD brass going to stand for this? What do they pay spokesman Paul Browne for?

In fact, the Daily News reports that other Brooklyn precinct commanders have asked Capt. Corey to help them merge onto the "information superhighway." What's next, an NYPD Geocities site?! In fairness, the NYPD has been using Twitter since last year, and today they want to remind you that "with pre-election demos, the Halloween parade and the NYC Marathon, the NYPD will be working to keep people moving and safe thru the wkend."

Recipients of Capt. Corey's e-mail blast include local bloggers like Pardon Me for Asking and The Word on Columbia Street. And the content goes beyond crime reports to inform residents about other news, like his haiku-like announcement that over the summer "at approximately 4:40 this afternoon, a large tree branch fell...inside Carroll Park."

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By John Del Signore in News on October 27, 2009 1:13 PM

Comments [rss]

Spirit of 76

Take a look a the NYPD website. It's just plain awful. Poor organization, bad graphics, good luck trying to find any real information. The memorial section is especially bad. Just a name and a date for each dead cop. Where was he? What precinct? How did he die? It's more of a "He died. Nothing to see. Move along," kind of memorial. The only city site that's worse is FDNY.

WorksInDUMBO

how do I sign up for his email list? I haven't seen that information anywhere.

ddunlop

Type up your email address on your typewriter and fax it over to the precinct. Or you could call the precinct as I just did.

rhonda718

Could you imagine if the NYPD learned what other PDs are doing with the interwebs?

I read a great article about how one department used facebook to piece together which people were members of which gangs. Facebook made it easy as everyone had everyone else friended... and many of the photos had people exhibiting gang wear and signs.

Nyctini11

I see plenty of coppers using their iPhones.... ON DUTY, i guess i shouldn't be upset anymore and just assume they're all simultaneously fighting crime through twitter!!

hotstepper

i call shenanigans on these reports of web-ineptitude.

you telling me that NYPD goons don't go home and have a wank with some sweet internet babes? what are they still perusing nudie mags and Sears catalog bra sections?

wait. i think i've said too much...