NYPD Twitter photo contest #myNYPD was intended to solicit photos of individuals posing with an NYPD police offer. Such images are common, as NYPD officers have become in essence a representation of New York, with numerous tourists requesting a photo opp with the public servants.

But the online campaign backfired, in an act of digital defiance, as images of alleged police brutality flooded the Twitter stream of one of the country’s largest police force.

The NYPD began the #myNYPD campaign asking users to share images of them posing with a police officer and to add the hashtag. The original tweet was the aimed result of what NYPD wanted users t share.

According to NBC News, the responses came fast and furious and where not likely what the police department had in mind.

Numerous users uploaded images appearing to show potential police brutality and other unflattering behavior. There were a few respondents who sent in friendly images, but many of the photos were deliberately antagonistic.

One user, @NYCResistance posted a photo of a man and woman lying on the ground with two officers pulling their legs. The accompanying tweet says “Police help couple do yoga with proper form.”

Another user @OccupyWallStreetNYC tweeted, “Need a lift? The #NYPD’s got you! Free Delivery, Only at #myNYPD,” and included an image of four officers carrying a man.

Twitter user @ljsola posted a picture of an elderly man who was presumably hurt by an alleged police beating with the tweet “thanks #mynypd for beating up octogenarian jaywalkers. I feel safer.”

In a statement by NYPD, it said that the police department “is creating new ways to communicate effectively with the community.”

"Twitter provides an open forum for an uncensored exchange and this is an open dialogue good for our city," the NYPD said.