re: #myNYPD (AKA how not to run a twitter campaign)

Yes. Camera phones.

It's true that a picture speaks a thousand words, but it's often not nearly enough.

When a person sees a picture of what is obviously a physical and heated moment, (I want to use the word "violent" but I think it conveys more negativity than I intend), then our immediate reaction is to side with the apparent "victim", or weaker looking person.

It's telling that we have NO IDEA what is happening in these pictures but we make the assumption that the police are doing something wrong, when in fact, they may be doing something very right.

Being a cop and doing police work is very dangerous, and very necessary. A snap shot of some dude flat on his belly under a cops knees could very well be a picture of the arrest of a violent rapist, or who knows what.

At a minimum, we should acknowledge that to take a picture of a policeman in action as they confront an alleged law breaker is to necessarily take a snap shot of a very intense, often hostile, and always physically confrontative moment in time.