Queens cops neglect social distancing in social media posts

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Queens cops have their arms around a restaurant worker in this photo posted on the Queens North Borough Command Twitter page. Photo via TwitteR

Queens cops have their arms around a restaurant worker in this photo posted on the Queens North Borough Command Twitter page. Photo via TwitteR

By David Brand

The Twitter account for Queens North Borough Command shared photos of an empty Astoria Park on Saturday, accompanied by a message thanking residents for social distancing. Another message on April 22 showed an empty Gantry Plaza State Park and urged New Yorkers to “continue flattening the curve.”

But many other Queens North social media posts suggest that officers aren’t practicing what they tweet.

Various photos feature Queens cops with their arms wrapped around restaurant workers or one another, standing shoulder to shoulder while carrying donated food or posing without face masks in front of a pile of seized drugs or confiscated weapons. 


“It’s very frustrating because they’re being tasked with enforcing social distancing and making sure people are wearing masks, and yet they’re not engaging in the same practices,” said Legal Aid Cop Accountability Project attorney Jennvine Wong. 

Officers are empowered to issue fines or summonses to people who congregate in defiance of state and city social distancing order. They have also arrested at least eight people for gathering.

Canvassing the streets and making arrests puts the cops in close contact with New Yorkers, but many of the activities pictured on official NYPD Twitter accounts do not preclude the officers from keeping at least six feet apart and wearing personal protective equipment, Wong said

“As first responders and police, there are certain aspects of their job that make it impossible for them to practice social distancing at all times,” she said. “But they’re potentially bringing the virus into vulnerable communities.”

A video of an officer in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn visiting a burger place without wearing a mask as an example of the type of behavior that officers have to change, Wong said.

An April 5 post by NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea praising officers for locating a stolen car includes a photo of five unmasked officers standing elbow to elbow.

The NYPD has been particularly hard-hit by the coronavirus, with at least 37 officers dying as a result of the illness. One in five officers called out sick on April 9, and the rate of cops out sick on Saturday dropped below 10 percent for the first time in a month.

“The NYPD has not done enough to ensure that all of our members have protective equipment such as masks and gloves, nor does it have adequate supplies of that equipment to weather a prolonged outbreak,” said Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch earlier this month. The PBA filed a complaint with the state to demand more protective gear in March. 

In response, the city began to provide more PPE to the police. Everyday citizens and even the White House have also sent some gear to the NYPD. 

The officer who answered the phone Monday at Queens North, located in the 112th Precinct, referred questions to the NYPD’s press office, known as the Office of the Deputy Commissioner, Public Information, or DCPI. 

The officer, who identified herself as Perez, also said police and detectives are practicing social distancing, despite the photos on the Twitter account.

“We definitely are. We’re keeping our distance,” she said.

The NYPD did not respond to an email seeking more information.