Police Use of Social Media Revolutionizes Criminal Investigations - Essay Sample

Introduction

Social media has been essential in criminal investigation and even in police departments. Law enforcement relies mostly on digital evidence for important information on victims and suspects. Social media has become the central platform that police use to communicate important announcements to the community and inquire tips on criminal investigations (Trottier, 2015). Police departments have used media in a very advantageous way of investigating criminal offenses. This has transformed both peoples and professional lives. Facebook has been shortlisted as the most fruitful social network used by law enforcement (Tripathi, 2017). Examples of scenes where law enforcements used media for criminal investigations are:

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There was the case of Melvin Colon, a suspect from New York who was charged with cases related to narcotics, murder, illegal weapons. Melvin posted his photos to the public on Facebook displaying him flashing gang signs, and later he made particular incriminating reference to past violent crimes while threatening others. Unfortunately, his Facebook friend failed him by giving the police access to Melvin's private account (Kelly, 2012). The federal judge administered that Melvin lost all claims to privacy by sharing his details to his friends.

Another example was of Edith Hodak, who was identified as a suspect holdup at people's United Bank by the surveillance photos posted on Facebook hours after the robbery. The police officers said that the information from the public on their Facebook page helped them identify her.

Two Scenarios on the Use of Traditional Media and Social Media by Law Enforcement Agencies

Traditional Media Approach

On Saturday 24 November 2012, the FBI announced on television that they had arrested one of the ten most wanted fugitives. The assistant director of FBI at Los Angeles, Mr. Bill Lewis, reported that Joe Saenz was arrested in Mexico and taken to Los Angeles to be charged for cases of rape, kidnapping, and murder (Associated Press, 2012). The report brought relief to the public on the progress of police interventions.

Social Media Approach

In 2010, the Toronto Police service used twitter to inform the public about an incident of gun violence at a high school. The tweets about the incident informed local news stories (Christopher, 2017). Twitter helped deliver information timely and straight from police sources which helped to cool down worries from parents and the broader community

Personal Opinion

The results could not have been the same, maybe if traditional media were used. This is so because traditional media does not spread rapidly to a large number of people. It also does not enhance instant feedback.

Reference

Kelly, H. (2012, August 30). Police embrace social media as crime-fighting tool. CNN, p. 1. Retrieved from https://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/30/tech/social-media/fighting-crime-social-media/index.html

Tripathi, V. (2017). Youth violence and social media. Journal of Social Sciences, 52(1-3), 1-7. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1080/09718923.2017.1352614

Trottier, D. (2015). Open source intelligence, social media and law enforcement: Visions, constraints and critiques. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 18(4-5), 530-547. Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1367549415577396

Christopher, D. (2017). The police on Twitter: image management, community building, and implications for policing in Canada, Policing and Society, 27:8, 899-912, DOI: 10.1080/10439463.2015.1120731

Associated Press (2012, November 24). FBI announces arrest of alleged gang member on 'most wanted' list. The Guardian, p. 5. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/nov/24/fbi-arrest-gang-member-most-wanted