Police Scan Web Sites to Find Tips, Suspects

By Jacqueline Koch, Chattanooga Times/Free Press, Tenn.

Mar. 17–Curtis Penney is a field training officer with the Chattanooga Police Department.

In cyberspace, however, he poses as a black woman on MySpace. In February, Officer Penney used the popular social networking Web site to befriend and then apprehend a suspect in an aggravated battery and kidnapping case.

Officer Penney said he heard about a man who allegedly robbed a pizza delivery driver and placed her in the trunk of her car on Germantown Road. After searching MySpace, Officer Penney found the man and sent him a message requesting friendship. The two began conversing, and the suspect suggested a meeting. Officers were waiting to arrest the man when he arrived.

“I use this to kind of get in contact with certain people in the community that I know are of the criminal element,” Officer Penney said. “Some of them give me information that we didn’t know or looking at their pages, at times they say things, comment on each other’s pages.”

Some local law enforcement officials, especially school resource officers, said they are turning to social networking sites to check on suspects, find information and monitor illegal activity.

Officer Penney said his colleagues have used MySpace to verify people’s real ages after finding them in a bar without an identification card.

“It’s almost like you’re walking into their house,” he said. “They put their whole lives out there basically. You can find whatever you want.”

Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department SRO Jim Naylor set up a MySpace page in October 2007 so students at Central High School could contact him with tips.

“Most of us with the sheriff’s office that are in the schools have started MySpace pages to make it easier for kids to talk to us,” Officer Naylor said. “Some kids, if they stand around a cop for more than two seconds they’re labeled a snitch, and they don’t want that.”

Students send messages to Officer Naylor informing him of students who smoke marijuana or plan fights, he said. He also uses the site to check up on students who appear moody or distant to determine the cause, he said.

Officer Naylor said that if he sees pictures of students using drugs or vandalizing property, he talks with the student about making good decisions and the consequences of using drugs. He does not tell them he found the information online.

“Usually they’re kind of confused when we bring them in (to my office),” he said.

Students post inappropriate content online because they do not realize how many people can view their sites, SRO supervisor Sgt. Matt Vandegriff said. Some post images or information to impress their peers, he said.

“Once you post, it’s not yours anymore,” he said.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has Internet-based surveillance, but it does not have a department MySpace or Facebook page set up, TBI spokeswoman Kristin Helm said. The bureau also does not regularly monitor either site because off the large volume of traffic associated with each, she said.

“For the most part, (sites) are helpful with law enforcement when something goes wrong,” Ms. Helm said.

LAW AND CYBERSPACE

MySpace: “MySpace reserves the right to investigate and take appropriate legal action against anyone who, in MySpace’s sole discretion, violates this provision (illegal activity), including without limitation, reporting you to law enforcement authorities.”

Facebook: “We may be required to disclose user information pursuant to lawful requests, such as subpoenas or court orders, or in compliance with applicable laws. We do not reveal information until we have a good faith belief that an information request by law enforcement or private litigants meets applicable legal standards. Additionally, we may share account or other information when we believe it is necessary to comply with law, to protect our interests or property, to prevent fraud or other illegal activity perpetrated through the Facebook service or using the Facebook name, or to prevent imminent bodily harm. This may include sharing information with other companies, lawyers, agents or government agencies.”

Sources: Facebook.com, MySpace.com

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