New York cops told to stay in line when online

NEW YORK–New York City’s police commissioner announced new restrictions Thursday for cops who want to tweet and post on Facebook.

Police will not be allowed to specify their jobs on YouTube, Facebook and other Internet platforms, NY1 television and the New York Daily News reported. They also can’t post photos of themselves in uniform, unless the pictures are from an official function, NY1 reported.

Police chief Ray Kelly said the rules will protect the department’s integrity — and keep officers on message.

“People who say they’re part of an organization, or this organization, make a statement that the public can interpret as policy, that, you know, they are representative of a management or representative of what’s going on in the department. You can’t run an organization like that,” Kelly said on NY1.

The crackdown followed several scandals involving loose-lipped officers.

Last year, 17 of them got in trouble for going on Facebook to make offensive and sometimes racist comments about the city’s West Indian Day Parade.

Earlier this month, the son of the city’s fire department commissioner had to quit his job in the Emergency Medical Service when it emerged that he had sent racist tweets.