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Saturday, March 8, 2025

Pole-dancing NYPD detective pulled from active cases in sex crimes unit

 The curvaceous NYPD detective who went viral after starring in a raunchy rap video while twerking in a thong and skimpy bra will no longer investigate active cases with the Special Victims Division, which investigates sex crimes, police sources said.

Melissa Mercado’s behavior was under review, an NYPD spokeswoman said. The department didn’t immediately answer when asked if the seven-year NYPD veteran had broken any specific rules when she appeared in the “Doin That” video by Hempstead rapper S-Quire.

Pitch Perfect, who directed the music video, told TMZ Friday that he and the rapper hired Mercado from a casting agency and were unaware of her day job.

NYPD detective Melissa Mercado is facing backlash for appearing in a music video in nothing but a G-string.WORLDSTARHIPHOP/YouTube
The detective has been taken off active sex crime cases, police sources said.WORLDSTARHIPHOP/YouTube
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“None of us were aware of … what her main profession was,” the director said.The video was posted by the online site WorldStarHipHop.

She was not named in the clip — which quickly made the rounds among the rank and file — and she wasn’t wearing anything that would identify her as a member of the city’s Finest.

It was particularly disturbing for a sex crimes investigator to make a video that’s degrading to women, said retired NYPD Special Victims Division Chief Michael Osgood.

“I think this conduct is unbecoming a police officer,” he said. “I find it wrong morally if you’re a special victims detective.”

Detective Mercado has been with the NYPD for seven years and is a sex crimes investigator.NYPDSVU/X

Mercado should be disciplined, said retired police officer and lawyer Eric Sanders.

“She should be modified,” Sanders said. “What she did is inconsistent with the values of being a police officer. Police work is a noble profession and it’s supposed to look a certain way.”

Mercado, a $144,000-a-year 3rd grade detective assigned to Bronx special victims, joined the force in 2018, records show.

The detective, who calls herself Honeybee on social media, taking a selfie.Melissa Mercado/Instagram
The music video was posted on WorldStarHipHop.WORLDSTARHIPHOP/YouTube

Pitch Perfect claimed to TMZ that Mercado has become a sought-after dancer for other rap videos since her appearance in S-Quire’s song.

“Everyone loved this model,” the director said, with S-Quire agreeing, calling her a “beautiful woman.” 

“I’ve had tons of artists reach out trying to get her in their video,” Pitch Perfect told the outlet, adding with a laugh, “If you look at it like that, it might be a great thing for her. I think she wins”

“She was one of the stars,” of the “Doin That” music video, the director added.

Mercado did not return calls from The Post. By Saturday, the “Doin That” video had garnered more than 1.6 million views.

https://nypost.com/2025/03/08/us-news/pole-dancing-nypd-detective-melissa-mercado-no-longer-on-active-cases-police-sources/

Tinder is rolling out an AI ‘wingman’ to help ‘struggling users’

 With the help of AI, singles can find love that’s anything but artificial.

Who needs your friends to weigh in on your dating app profile when a chatbot can be your wingman? That will soon be the reality on platforms owned by Match Group, such as Tinder and Hinge, as the company unveils new AI-powered features.

According to The Guardian, Match Group’s commitment to artificial intelligence includes introducing an AI chatbot that will help singletons decide which pictures will be popular, write messages to matches and will give “effective coaching for struggling users,” who can rely on the chatbot to help guide them through conversations.

The AI-powered chatbot will help users craft messages and coach “struggling users.”ShinoStock – stock.adobe.com

Yoel Roth, the head of trust and safety at Match Group, told The Financial Times that for “men especially,” a “big part of our safety approach is focused on driving behavioral change so that we can make dating experiences safer and more respectful.”

The chatbot will flag messages that are “off-color” and prompt the user to reconsider sending it, Roth said. According to The Financial Times, one-fifth of the people who receive the notification re-think the note.

“We think of it internally as ‘too much, too soon,'” he said.

“In the context of online dating, where young people grow up and enter the dating marketplace. . .there’s a real need and opportunity to help people understand the norms and behaviors that go along with respectful and consensual dating.”

But some critics are staunchly opposed to the integration of AI on dating apps in an “already precarious online environment,” according to The Guardian.

Roth said that “there’s a real need and opportunity to help people understand the norms and behaviors that go along with respectful and consensual dating.”Kaspars Grinvalds – stock.adobe.com

“Many of these companies have correctly identified these social problems,” Dr. Luke Brunning, an applied ethics lecturer at the University of Leeds, told the publication.

“But they’re reaching for technology as a way of solving them, rather than trying to do things that really de-escalate the competitiveness, [like] make it more easy for people to be vulnerable, more easy for people to be imperfect, more accepting of each other as ordinary people that aren’t all over 6ft [tall] with a fantastic, interesting career, well written bio and constant sense of witty banter.”

He added: “Most of us just aren’t like that all the time.”

Those in favor of the AI-powered wingmen argue that the extra assist mitigates the swipe fatigue and burnout that accompanies online dating.

The Guardian pointed to product manager Aleksandr Zhadan, a man who programmed ChatGPT to sift through thousands of potential matches on Tinder and found a woman who became his fiancée.

According to Roth, a “big part of our safety approach is focused on driving behavioral change so that we can make dating experiences safer and more respectful.”Daniel Pawer – stock.adobe.com
Still, Brunning expressed frustration with the absence of regulations regarding AI and dating apps, claiming they are “very similar to social media.”

“Regulators are waking up to the need to think about social media, and they’re worrying about the social impact of social media, its effect on mental health. I’m just surprised that dating apps haven’t been folded into that conversation,” he said.

“In many other respects, they’re explicitly targeting our most intimate emotions, our strongest romantic desires. They should be drawing the attention of regulators.”

https://nypost.com/2025/03/08/lifestyle/tinder-is-rolling-out-an-ai-wingman-to-help-struggling-users-this-is-what-the-tech-will-do-for-you/