Solving Crime through 'The Social Network'

One of the points that really stuck with me from Strath Gordon’s lecture was the Police’s use of social networking websites in investigations and gathering and dispersing information.
                Now you think it would be obvious as to where to look to find good information on the NSW Police Force’s use of social networking to help solve investigations and communicate to the community, yet for some reason I spent a relatively unproductive hour searching the net with very little to show, and then it clicked; the NSW Police Force facebook page. I know, genius, right?

I assumed that most of the posts would be the NSW Police talking themselves up, yet while some of them are, interestingly enough the majority of posts I saw on their Facebook page were notices regarding the Police’s ‘ongoing investigations’ into various crimes of a more serious nature, such as armed robbery, assault, arson and homicide. One of the posts that stood out most to me, however, was a release of CCTV footage of an unknown man who might be able to assist in an investigation (http://www.facebook.com/notes/nsw-police-force/unseen-cctv-footage-released-into-2008-sydney-cbd-death/10150158346741394). To me this seems like such a clever and efficient way to help gather information that could ultimately lead to the apprehension of an offender, but after reading some of the comments to this post by civilian Facebook users it seems that the majority of people only want to voice their opinion (which are mostly irrelevant) instead of actually helping the Police. Although, I did notice that people were posting tips for Police on their wall (Facebook wall), for example one person posted an area where he’d seen people using their phones whilst driving on numerous occasions, and another woman posted about facebook groups which were being used to harass young kids. I think the NSW Police having a Facebook page is a good move on their behalf, not only does it help them (and ultimately us) find suspects and offenders, but it also makes them much more accessible and seemingly ‘user friendly’ to the broader community.

I found a media release on the AFP site posted last year that was about a case that involved an organised child exploitation network that had be operating through Facebook in four different continents (I have a feeling either Strath or Alyce has mentioned this to us). The police, in their respective countries, were able to work with Facebook in identifying and arresting eleven people for this child exploitation network. There was a nice little quote at the end of the article, "One of our most effective strategies against Internet-facilitated child sexual abuse is cooperation. No single agency can deal with this crime in isolation. We continually work together with our partners to ensure the safety and security of children, regardless of where they live."

I’ve also heard (as I’m most of you have too) of the Police using YouTube to catch people out committing crimes. I remember hearing people being questioned and potentially even charged over a few videos showing people fighting... And I think also a guy who ran over a swan with a boat. Some people are just too clever.

All in all, my opinion is that the Police are taking the right step by using the sites to help in investigations. We are living in an ‘online’ society, and where society exists, there’s crime. In other words, crime has expanded into the cyber-space, and Police need to use the tools at hand to monitor and investigate crime and criminal activities.