Social Media Use in Identifying and Investigating Criminal Conduct

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Social media has become a valuable tool for law enforcement agencies in identifying and investigating criminal conduct. Social media forensics involves the collection, analysis, and storage of information, photos, videos, and other electronic evidence that are publicly available from social media sources for purposes of locating criminals. Source

Law enforcement agencies use social media for a wide variety of purposes, including notifying the public of safety concerns, community outreach, and public relations, in addition to conducting investigations. Source

Information posted through social media accounts can be utilized by law enforcement to identify criminal behavior, assist in identifying witnesses, verify alibis, provide evidence in ongoing criminal investigations, and be used during a trial to verify or contradict testimony. Source

By monitoring social media platforms, police can gather information about potential suspects and witnesses, and can even identify crime patterns. Additionally, social media can be used to disseminate information to the public about ongoing investigations, which can help to generate tips and leads. Source

Proactive policing strategies and multiple forms of police misconduct and violence have disproportionately affected people of color who live in urban, disadvantaged communities. Justification of this behavior is rooted in historical narratives and a belief structure, often perpetuated in the criminal justice system that views Black men as “symbolic assailants” warns that these covert and routine strategies have widespread, cumulative effects on both individuals and the collective consciousness of Black communities.

Writing through the recollections of his interview subjects, he cites the experiences of his interlocutors to make the point that the cumulative impact of racial discrimination accounts for the special way that Blacks have of looking at and evaluating interracial incidents [ . . . ] What many whites see as black “paranoia” is simply a realistic sensitivity to White–Black interaction created and constantly reinforced by the two types of cumulative discrimination. (Feagin, 1991, p. 115)