Use of Social Media by LEA
Law enforcement agencies, like many other types of organizations, are finding
ways to use social media to disseminate information to the public. In fact, police agencies in larger cities are finding that their communities expect them to have an online presence on platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.
Social media has now given protesters the ability to informally and very quickly organize and communicate with each other in real time. Police must know how to monitor these types of communications in order to gauge the mood of a crowd, assess whether threats of criminal activity are developing, and stay apprised of any plans by large groups of people to move to other locations.
“Social media is not a silver bullet”. “It enables us to do old business in newer ways, but we still have to do old business.”
How Law Enforcement Uses Social Media?
Evidence collection
Track suspects whereabout
Obtain background information on persons of interest
Criminal network identification
Public safety awareness
Witness Identification
Manage volatile situations
Community assistance
How social media platforms enable surveillance?
Analyze Social Media – Agencies should actively view Facebook posts, Tweets, and other social media communications to develop actionable intelligence for preventing violent or otherwise illegal flash mob events
Identify Groups with Histories of Criminal Activity – Officers should become familiar with various groups that have an online presence, so police will be able to distinguish credible information from rumors.
Use Social Media for Outreach – Police should get to know youths and their parents and should open dialogues with both groups.
Get the Community Involved – Flash mob incidents are not only a law enforcement issue. The police should work with local government elected officials, schools, other government agencies, community leaders, recreation centres, faith-based organizations, and other local representatives to address the problem.
Use Other Intelligence Resources – School resource officers are frequently a good source of information about youths’ activities. They should be trained to understand flash mob events and alert other police units when they learn about a potentially dangerous event.