Social Media in Law Enforcement

Surfing around this morning, waiting for our travel partners to start moving around, I find this article in the Baton Rouge Advocate, talking about how law enforcement uses social media.

Seeking to harness a torrent of data gushing from smartphones and computers, authorities are increasingly surfing Facebook, Twitter and Youtube, among other popular sites, for investigative leads and evidence they use to solve crimes. As if patrolling a neighborhood, police monitor social media websites to contact witnesses, identify suspects and look for chatter that might signal potential violence.

Yeah, we do that.  We look at Facebook and Twitter, and all manner of social media to help solve crimes.  People talk about things that interest them, and the drama of crime interests people, and there is lots of that stuff on the intertubes if you're willing to look.  I've made cases off of Facebook, when folks brag online about their thefts, or their drugs, or air their threats and grievaces online.

Id be willing to bet that the good detectives in the NOPD are looking at social media this morning, trying to figure out who shot all those people on Bourbon Street yesterday.   Somebody is going to post something on Facebook, and the digital cops are looking.  Thankfully, the bad guys aren't smart enough to realize that once you put something on the World Wide Web, it's there for all to look at, enjoy, and catalog as evidence.

You have the right to remain silent.