Thanks for the link. This is a great article.
UNSOCIAL MEDIA: Law enforcement weigh benefits and drawbacks of social media
Updated at 10:38 am, September 29th, 2015
By: Tom Holm, Post Register
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Facebook and Twitter can be excellent sources of mass information. But pinning down the truth in all that noise can be extremely difficult, especially for law enforcement in an active investigation.
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Law enforcement has a tenuous relationship with social media. It can help in getting word out about missing teens, or a robbery suspect. But it can also be a mud-slinging arena where accusations fly and progress is hindered.
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“Getting people involved to help look, if they’re the right type of people, it’s fantastic,” Bowerman said. “
But then there’s people who their whole life is social media, and they’ll twist the things you say. It creates a bigger frenzy than it is; it’s really a struggle.”
(I remember this very well because I spent literally hours cleaning up the garbage that people brought over from that site.)
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A missed opportunity
National events such as the Boston Marathon bombing highlight both sides of the social media sword.
Redd___ users took to surveillance videos of the April 2013 bombing scene to try and locate possible suspects. Users mislabeled a man as a possible suspect and caused a veritable witch hunt of an innocent man.
