How Police Used Social Media to Identify Diamond Thieves? - Video Analysis Essay

Introduction

Underlying the dominant use of social media is the need for communication and maintenance of privacy. Nonetheless, law enforcement agencies may leverage social media communication to conduct investigations and apprehend criminals. In NBC's How Police Used Social Media to Identify Diamond Thieves, the video places significant focus on the connection between social media and law enforcement. At the same time, the video appears to advance the argument that social media has the potential to disrupt criminal activities by providing an overview of an individual's lifestyle. In the video, Michael Young and his group had orchestrated a series of diamond robberies across various shops in Portland. While the police had a hard time unraveling the crime, the social media patterns of Young proved of great assistance in determining the offenders. Here, the cops correlated the social media photos of Michael Young between crimes and the lifestyle of Michael Young's group. The group sold the diamonds to a store named Three Gold Brothers. Three Gold Brothers later closed for handling stolen diamonds. Although it is prudent to exercise restraint when spending proceeds from criminal activities, Young's group was reckless and went on a wild shopping spree. For instance, they upgraded their motorbikes with high-performance specifications. Also, their ostentatious behaviors show them use the money as pillows. Thus, the group's biggest undoing was sharing photos of their fast life on social media.

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The video made me realize that social media may promote investigations by enabling law enforcement agencies to identify suspects and establish their culpability through their social media patterns. By posting pictures, an individual may offer police the chance to take a glance at his or her lifestyle. The same also allows law enforcement officers to compare an individual's lifestyle with their income. As a result, it is possible to establish a criminal liability through a careful investigation of an individual's online activities. Given that the police used social media history, it is prudent to examine and reflect on the content one posts and its potential effects. While suspects may deny charges against their illegal activities, their online behaviors offer a starting point for investigations. Here, online posts and photos may not only incriminate an individual but may also facilitate the identification of one's accomplices. Most gang members tend to stick together through social interactions such as clubbing. At the same time, the data on social media and one's social media history may be used to geolocate individuals. Although some may argue that relying on social media to identify the location of suspects violates privacy, it is important to note that the social nature of social media implies that a user has surrendered their privacy rights. The video also challenges one to think of how law enforcement agencies can effectively use social media in policing and investigation activities. First, the agencies could leverage the broad reach of social media to disseminate real-time information on the occurrence of crimes and request public assistance on current investigations. Although the sensitivity of some operations may prevent the police from using social media, engagement with citizens on social media could enhance the investigation processes.

Conclusion

Overall, I find that the video challenges law enforcement agencies to increase their capacity to conduct investigations by equipping their officers with online investigation skills and associated knowledge.