1. Do you think about what you post on a social media site.The social media is defined as
websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social
networking. There are many forms of social media from social networking to social blogs or
vlogs. Facebook is one of the most popular and used social media site in the world. There are
71% adults on the internet used Facebook 87% of those adults are between the age ranges of 18-
29. With the easy access to the internet social media users can get addicted to it. 70% of
Facebook users say they used the social site daily.
With the growth of the internet and people willingly to share anything on social media.
Law enforcement agencies has started using social media in their daily life to. A 2012 survey
showed that 1,221 federal, state and local law enforcement officials who used social media. Been
that it is 2015 I’m pretty sure that number has rose significantly up. America law enforcement is
not the only law enforcement that used social media as place to solve crimes. In London between
2007-2012 reports crimes linked to Facebook went up 540 percent. If people are willing to
incriminate themselves on social media, then; law enforcement should be able to take advantage
of it.Social media helps law enforcement find evidence and suspects they are looking for. The
community also benefit from law enforcement using social media because they posted mugshots,
arrested warrants, and community to keep the community safe. With all the benefits come from
law enforcement using social media why shouldn't they be able to used social media like the rest
of society in their everyday lives.
There are many cases where a form of social media was used to solve the case for law
enforcement. For example, In 2008 Ronnie Tienda Jr. was convicted of a gang-related murder.
The cases was mostly based on incriminating words and photos he post on Myspace. Not only
was officers able to solve a murder. If social media was not used the cases probably would of not

2. be solve, and get a murderer of the street for public safety. Also, friends and family of people on
social media can give law enforcement access to a person private information on Facebook. For
instance, Melvin Colon who facing charges of murder, weapons, and narcotics. He posted public
photos of him throwing gang signs and post private incriminating things about past violence and
threats. The reason this case is special because some of the things he post was private on
Facebook, but one of his Facebook friends was able to give police officers access to the private
information. People think since they are posted something on Facebook that it cannot affect them
in real life which from those two cases the public knows that untrue.
Social media is not only a tool that can solve crimes for law enforcement it can be used to
identity criminal to whether it is picture or videos. There is video sharing website like Vine and
WorldStarHipHop. WorldStarHipHop is video sharing website where people can post all time of
videos. WorldStarHipHop claims to be a website where hip hop videos are posted. Even though
is supposed to be for hip hop worldstarhiphop is more known for the fights and disturbing videos
post on there, but the video do help law enforcement solve crimes. “Christine O'Brien,
spokeswoman of the Philadelphia Police Department, said World Star and similar sites have
helped detectives zero in on suspects quickly just from watching the videos". One of the crime
she talks about where a man was jumped, beaten, and robbed while on the subway. Nowadays all
law enforcement got do is watch a video someone post online of crimes been committed. Which
posted of the population has a smartphone with HD quality videos it makes more easily for the
police to identified the suspects right away. "As far as law enforcement, it makes our job a whole
lot easier," said Debbie Carter, spokeswoman for the Hillsborough Sheriff's Department. "Once
it's on a public website and it becomes public record, anyone can download it, so that can be then

3. used in evidence." If people are willingly too posted on public website then it will be as used as
evidence against if they committed a crime.
Law enforcement do not only used social media to solve crimes they used it to located
criminals and send out crime alerts for public safety. With most police departments having a
Facebook page or a Twitter account. The police are able to post photos of criminals they are
looking for. The Denver police department Facebook has a posted with the headline Mug Shot
Monday. The posted is used to alert the community of two criminals that at large. The post have
the criminal names, their ages, their birthdays, height, weight, and last known address. Facebook
had become an important tool for law enforcement when it comes to getting information to the
public. People are more likely to check social media before watching the news.
Most police department facebook pages have at least one post where they are warning the
public about an unsafe place. The Denver police department is the only the police department
with a Facebook page. Police Department Facebook page not only used to posted arrested
warranty and mud shots. Police department used there Facebook to posted crime alerts for the
public. The Denver police department posted a community alert about two different sexual
assault that was close in proximity. With that information people of the community are able to
prepare for their safety if they are going near that area. Police department are also able to release
media statements from their facebook to keep the community informed. For instance, the
Maplewood Minnesota police department posted a media release about a possible homicide of a
child. With that post the police department is keeping the public informed on a case that
probably touched a lot of people.
The first thing comes to mind when people think of law enforcement used social media as
evidence against people is the First Amendment. With social media have freedom of speech and

4. the freedom of expression while used social media. Since most social media networks have a
privacy policy when people agreed to the terms with using social media. With that privacy policy
law enforcement is forced to get a warrant before searching a suspect social media if
private.While police records and mug shot are public record. The fact that law enforcement
agencies are able to post all the type of information from a person can put them at risk. The post
have a person full name and their birthday which can put a person at risk for identity theft.
Where you are posting guns and drugs or posting threats online if law enforcement see it
they will used it against in a court of law. With social media getting better by the day with more
people using it, there will always be a handful of people using it for different intense. Law
enforcement should be able to benefit from new technology. Where it is searching through a
suspect Facebook pages for evidence or looking a video posted on worldstarhiphop to identify
suspects. Law enforcement used of social media can benefit the community to. Where it is
posting about dangerous people or posting about crime alerts.