How Law Enforcement Agencies Are Using Social Media to Better Serve the Public

http://ow.ly/6icUS

Article by Aliza Sherman, appearing on Mashable website.

This article discusses ways in which law enforcement agencies in various countries use social media to help increase the effectiveness of their efforts.  As the author points out, "As demonstrated in countries like Egypt and Syria, governments worldwide are monitoring — and in some cases, shutting down — social media channels in attempts to control gain control of unfolding events. More recently, the unrest in the U.K. highlights the complexity of monitoring social media conversations and putting the information gathered in real-time to use."


In addition, the author states, "According to Washington D.C. social media lawyer Bradley Shear, any user of social media should realize that everything he posts publicly online has the potential to be reviewed by others who may not be the intended readers — that includes governments and police departments.

“If you post something on a public Facebook Page, public Twitter account, public Google+ profile, you generally give up your right to privacy regarding the content that you have posted,” says Shear. “When I tweet or blog, I do so with the knowledge that my content may be viewed by anyone at any time who has access to the Internet.”"


The article also references the Fourth Amendment, and how it limits what information can be obtained by law enforcement in the U.S. without a warrant.

The article also discusses how police can tactically use social media, "Operationally or tactically, police units can aggregate, filter and analyze a social media stream in a given policing area and look for conversations ahead of planned events such as demonstrations. Analyzing what people are talking about can guide the effective deployment of services.

For intel, a police unit could identify key influencers to both glean and disseminate credible information. They could monitor the streams during the day of an event to make on-the-spot decisions and better manage resources on the ground. Then after an event, they could learn from the operation and assess the public’s feelings about what took place."