Social Media to Solve Crime Statistics

Harnessing the Power of Engineering science

Creative cybermedia tools unite constabulary enforcement and the community in the fight against crime.

For better or worse, the Internet has get an integral role of life for most Americans. On the negative side, interconnectivity has spawned new breeds of criminal offense, such every bit cyber stalking and phishing, causing new headaches for police enforcement, who must remain a step ahead of today's tech-savvy criminals. On the other mitt, the increasing sophistication and improved integration of social media accept also created unparalleled opportunities for law enforcement agencies to connect with their communities in innovative new ways.

A September 2010 International Association of Chiefs of Constabulary (IACP) survey revealed that 81 percent of constabulary enforcement agencies interviewed now employ social media. Notwithstanding, while 62 percent report using tools such every bit Facebook to assistance in criminal investigations, fewer than one-half acknowledge using social media for crime prevention. Many experts believe the social media sphere holds enormous potential for law enforcement crime prevention units and groups such as Neighborhood Watch. According to the National Crime Prevention Council, "… [W]ith constabulary enforcement personnel being strained by budget cuts and the struggling economy keeping us at home more than oft, embracing online networks as prevention tools may assistance u.s.a. form a deeper connection with our neighbors and local law enforcement while helping to prevent crime."

Social Media: All the News That's Fit to... Upload!

Only what constitutes "social media"? Wikipedia defines the term as "Media designed to be disseminated through social interaction, created using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques." More simply, "Social media are primarily Cyberspace- and mobile-based tools for sharing and discussing information amongst human beings" (Artistic Media Farm). A few—but by no means all—of the available formats include online videos, blogs, and social networking sites. Designed as a primer, this article introduces some of the nearly popular platforms and reviews current and potential uses in crime prevention.

Back in the skilful old days, when family unit time meant an evening spent together watching Happy Days or Dallas, we received emergency news alerts via the local and national tv networks. Nowadays, portable electronic devices such every bit smart phones, DVD players, and laptops are fragmenting a formerly cohesive audience, requiring crime prevention organizations to adopt multi-targeted approaches in order to reach individual segments of the community. "Whenever a group holds a Neighborhood Sentry coming together, we send an officeholder. People are on social media now, so we take to have a presence there," explained Mark Economou, public data officer for the Boca Raton Police Services Department. "The bottom line is, when you're on the estimator belatedly at nighttime checking your Facebook folio, you lot're not going to visit the law department'southward website. We put data in forepart of your face and so that you don't have to go looking for information technology."

According to the same IACP media survey, social networking is the most pop social media platform used within the constabulary enforcement community, with virtually 67 percent of responding agencies stating that they currently have a Facebook page. This networking Goliath (and, to a bottom extent, its cousin MySpace) is particularly popular with crime prevention units, which tin hands—and for no setup toll—create a folio where "fans" can read the latest news, post comments, and participate in give-and-take forums. With 500 meg agile users, Facebook represents a supersized slice of the social media pie, but it is by no means alone. Following are another major social media platforms that are gaining ground inside the constabulary enforcement and offense prevention community.

Weblogs, or "blogs," such every bit the Google-owned Blogger/BlogSpot, allow users to publish and share text and multimedia files online. Indexing and primal discussion search functions enable readers to retrieve information easily, making this an attractive medium for detailed and timely communications. Bundled chronologically, blogs are an platonic venue for posting upcoming result announcements and seasonal crime prevention and safety data. Last summertime, for example, the Boston Law Department posted propane gas and charcoal grill barbecue safety tips on its blog.

Microblogs adhere to the "less is more" principle, allowing users to publish cursory (typically up to 140 characters) condition updates. The Internet is domicile to dozens of microblogging sites, including Nixle, Tumblr, and Google Buzz, but Twitter currently boasts the most subscribers—175 million as of September 14, 2010. Because Twitter posts, known equally "tweets," convey a sense of urgency, they are an constructive mode to chop-chop disseminate time-sensitive criminal offense prevention news and alerts, every bit the National Crime Prevention Council illustrates: "If nosotros sign upwards to our watch grouping'due south designated social media site, we can give our neighbors instant access to information that may make a divergence between being victimized and escaping unscathed. One tweet to your neighbors near a strange person peering into a neighbor's house in the area... about an attempted child abduction can instantly put hundreds of your neighbors on warning and get them all working together to help law enforcement auscultate the suspects."

Multimedia sharing websites such equally Flickr, PhotoBucket, and YouTube let users store, share, and create audiovisual files and photographs. A similar audiovisual tool, the podcast, is designed to be released in segments, which are stored chronologically on a website server. Users can download these segments straight or stream them online. It'south an old cliche, but for visual learners, a picture really does paint a g words. Audiovisual media let law enforcement agencies demonstrate crime prevention and prophylactic techniques in a format that Neighborhood Watch members can easily replay and share with others in their customs. For case, in Lathrup Hamlet, Michigan, the police force section produced the following 10-minute video to explicate the steps for establishing a Neighborhood Watch (world wide web.youtube.com/watch?v=cHpDYiQq7z8). A segment featuring professional burglars helps illustrate how quickly and easily a home break-in can occur. The police force department requires that groups wishing to start a Lookout view the video before signage volition be placed in their neighborhood. In Boca Raton, the Police Services Department has shot a series of seasonal videos on topics ranging from boating safe (www.youtube.com/picket?v=Y-w9YRZ55EU) to tips for remaining safe while holiday shopping (www.youtube.com/watch?five=Igt3TBB7ooc).

Cheers to advances in technology, video production doesn't require a Spielberg-size budget. Using only a camera, a laptop, and video editing software, the average law-breaking prevention unit tin create a polished and professional production. Furthermore, when it comes to selecting a narrator or spokesperson, subject field area expertise and public speaking power may substitute for all-encompassing media experience. "You don't need to take a big staff or a public data officer, explained Economou. "[Your spokesperson] could even be a noncombatant in records or a deputy in crime analysis."

Innovation and Integration

Equally the social media marketplace matures, organizations are outset to focus less on simply establishing an online presence and more on developing comprehensive integration strategies. For instance, Facebook and MySpace users now can embed YouTube videos into their profile pages. A Twitter application lets business relationship holders detect Facebook friends who tweet likewise as post tweets to their ain Facebook fan or profile page. A useful social media tool, the RSS feed, works in conjunction with other social media platforms to facilitate integration. Rather than repeatedly visiting an agency's blog, Facebook or Twitter page, or website, subscribers to a site's RSS feed tin elect to take new content automatically forwarded to them electronically.

Integration is a rapidly evolving, multifaceted science that can be uniquely tailored to come across the needs of the individuals and organizations that utilise social media. "We're currently looking at means to integrate our daily blotter into the newsfeed on our Facebook folio," Economou noted. "We're too trying to set up a notification system for when someone asks a question on our Facebook page subsequently hours and on weekends so that nosotros can reply in a timely manner."

Smart phones also play an increasingly important function in social media integration. Past downloading special applications, iPhone users can exist notified when they receive a Facebook bulletin or tweet, and bloggers can create new entries on their Blackberry. The Boca Raton Police Crime Prevention Unit recently teamed up with retailers at a pop local mall to attain on-the-go vacation shoppers using smart phone technology. "We're constantly trying to get condom letters out, especially in areas where at that place is a lot of piffling theft," Economou said. "At Christmas time, many mall shoppers are oblivious to their environs. Nosotros desire to remind them to non go out packages inside their cars and to not talk on their phone while walking through the parking lot." The police force department designed and displayed throughout the local mall "Happy Holiday" posters (without identifying the source) that invited readers to scan a QR (quick response) barcode. "We decided to try out this new technology during the holiday season," Economou explained. "Smart phone users who scan the posters receive a holiday shopping safety reminder, courtesy of the police force department, plus a discount coupon from a participating retailer." The Exist Safe and Save campaign was recently featured on CBS News and can be viewed here (www.youtube.com/watch?5=nHqWB3EGsyo&feature=related).

IACP Launches New Social Media Resource

The social media universe is expanding at a dizzying pace, making it hard to go along current on the latest developments. Final October, in partnership with the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Part of Justice Programs, U.South. Department of Justice, the IACP launched the Center for Social Media, a web-based learinghouse designed to "build the capacity of law enforcement to apply social media to prevent and solve crimes, strengthen law-community relations, and raise services."

The comprehensive website (www.iacpsocialmedia.org) features a footstep-by-step guide that provides an overview of social media, information on strategy and policy development, as well equally tips and tutorials for getting started. The Technologies section lists the major social media platforms with hyperlinks to detailed information and case studies from actual law enforcement agencies. A growing directory includes drop-down boxes from which users can search for agencies that use social media by state, state, agency type and size, and media platform.

The website'south weblog, The Social Media Beat, features idea-provoking columns written past law enforcement communications experts. By topics have ranged from tips for creating a Twitter bio to the importance of developing a consequent voice across social media platforms.

As social media use in the workplace increases, then does the need for established policy. The IACP has drafted a model policy to help police force enforcement agencies develop procedures and guidelines for official departmental use (www.iacpsocialmedia.org/portals/1/documents/social%20media%20policy.pdf).

According to Nancy Kolb, IACP senior program managing director, the project began in response to member inquiries and growing interest in the field of social media. "Nosotros've held several workshops on social media at contempo conferences, and they've been standing room merely." Although the website launched only 2 months ago, feedback from the police force enforcement community has been exceedingly positive.

In the News

Following is a sampling of media reports that focus on the use of social media in crime prevention.

• "Beyond Twitter and Facebook: Leveraging Other Social Media Tools at Your Section," James Gunther, The CrimeMap, February 4, 2010
• "How Police Can Use Twitter," DailySplice
• "Lawbreakers foiled past Facebook," CNNMoney.com, April viii, 2010
• "Neighborhood Watch Goes Loftier Tech," abcNEWS, May 2, 2009
• "Social Networking for Police force Enforcement," TechBeat, National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center, Winter 2010
• "Virtual Neighborhood Picket: How Social Media is Making Cities Safer," Mashable, October 1, 2009

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