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5 Ways Social Media Posts Can Impact Police Investigations

5 Ways Social Media Posts Can Impact Police Investigations

<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;">For good and for ill&comma; social media web sites have fundamentally transformed how people interact in our society&period; Now those transformations are beginning to influence how police conduct their investigations&period; A 2012 survey conducted by LexisNexis Risk Solutions found that four out of five law enforcement officers had turned to social media while attempting to solve a crime&period; Here are five ways in which social media posts can impact police investigations&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;">Getting the Information Out There<&sol;span><&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;">Police departments are solving crimes just by posting about them&period; Surveillance photos of bank robbers and burglars generate often useful tips&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;">Sharing a Little Too Much<&sol;span><&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;">In the age of many people wanting to share the entirety of their everyday lives with the whole world&comma; or at least with whoever might be reading their Facebook and Twitter feeds&comma; wanted criminals are often swept along with this sharing mindset as well&period; The allure of online attention can convince criminals to trade their fear of getting caught for the upvotes and shares of their social media friends and followers&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;">Criminals have been known to post evidence of their crimes&comma; sometimes even posting pictures while at a crime scene&period; Less obvious&comma; but still helpful to law enforcement are more subtle clues such as offenders posting about their present whereabouts&comma; such as &&num;8220&semi;at the mall&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;">Inadvertent Reporting<&sol;span><&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;">A new phenomenon perhaps unique to social media is that police are now finding out about the existence of some crimes through social media posts exclusively&period; Without Facebook and Twitter&comma; they might not know for a very long time&comma; if ever&comma; that such a crime even took place&period; This can affect police investigations in a big way&period; If you hold onto the evidence and fail to cooperate&comma; <&sol;span><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;">you could be charged with a crime&period;<&sol;span><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;"> Attorneys may contact you to get your statement as a way to defend their client&period; It could become a sticky mess for you if you are holding onto something that is necessary for the investigators to get the whole story&period; <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;">Evidence gained through social media posts can also be a treasure trove about a known incident where not much evidence otherwise exists&period; Suspects who clam up to investigators may sing online in social media posts&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;">Social Media Friends Can Be the Criminal&&num;8217&semi;s Weakness<&sol;span><&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;">While criminals themselves don&&num;8217&semi;t often turn themselves in&comma; what they <&sol;span><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;">share on social media<&sol;span><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;"> sometimes prompts someone in their network of friends to do just that&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;">Friends to the End<&sol;span><&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;">Some police departments actually send friend requests to criminals &&num;8212&semi; and have those requests accepted&comma; giving their officers inside access to the lives of their investigative targets&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;">Here to Stay<&sol;span><&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; 400&semi;">Social media has permanently changed our society&comma; and police work too&period; When posting on social media&comma; consider the legal responsibilities&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;

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