How police investigators are using social media[Infographic]

An overwhelming majority of investigators using social media for investigative purposes are “self taught,” according to a new survey of 1,200 Federal, state, and local law enforcement professionals.

The nationwide survey — conducted in a partnership between PoliceOne and LexisNexis Risk Solutions — offers extensive insight into how social media is influencing police investigations.

For example, roughly four of five respondents currently using social media anticipate using it even more in the future, and 74 percent of those not currently using it indicated they intend to start doing so in the foreseeable future.Half of all respondents use social media at least on a weekly basis, and two-thirds believe that social media helps solve crimes more quickly.

“Investigation and analysis of social media content provides a huge opportunity in terms of crime prevention and offender apprehension,” Samantha Gwinn, Government Solutions Consultant for LexisNexis Risk Solutions, told PoliceOne.

Gwinn has 12 years of experience as a crime analyst at local and federal law enforcement agencies, and believes strongly that “as law enforcement personnel continue to participate in formal training and gain an increased comfort level with the power and scope of social media, as well as its limitations, the value it provides will continue to rise.”

Research suggests that Gwinn’s opinion is echoed across the law enforcement community, who also see the value social media provides in terms of crime prevention and investigation. One officer indicated anecdotal evidence that social media provided information on at least one recent case.

In that instance, a subject had allegedly made a “terroristic threat involving students in a local high school. Further investigation (utilizing Facebook) revealed the threats were credible and officers conducted follow-up investigations which revealed a student intent on harming others. The student was in the process of attempting to acquire weapons.  It’s my belief we avoided a ‘Columbine’ type scenario.”

The research conducted in March 2012 assessed the law enforcement community’s understanding of, proclivity to use, and actual use of social media, and aimed to better understand acceptability thresholds of various types of investigative techniques and current resources and processes being used.

The survey solicited feedback from individuals representing a wide variety of law enforcement agencies — from rural localities to major metropolitan cities to federal agencies — producing a comprehensive view of the social media landscape. All of the survey respondents are active-duty law enforcement professionals ranging in age, experience, and job level.

A great many other findings were apparent in the survey, some of which are indicated in the infographic below (click to enlarge).  What do you take from it? Post your thoughts in the comments section.

It seems like law enforcement officials have always had sort of a rough time of things, probably from the very beginning of the profession. Most people tend to have an automatic reaction to seeing or interacting with police, and the general reaction usually tends to fall along the lines of either fear or anger. This, of course, makes the law officer’s job far more difficult as they try to deal with people who are doing their best to either lie to the police or just outright elude them.

While these problems that face law enforcement will likely never be solved entirely, police officers now have a powerful new ally in dealing with those suspected of criminal activity: social media.

It would seem like basic knowledge (and really just common sense) that if you’re going to do something that would be considered illegal where you live, you shouldn’t post it on your Facebook page for anyone to see. It should really be that simple, logically. A staggering amount of police officers and law enforcement agencies, though, are now using social media to get pertinent information on suspected criminals, because they and their friends talk and post openly about it on social sites. Really.

Today’s infographic from PoliceOne.com outlines the growing use of social media as a tool for officers to do their jobs more efficiently. More than 70% of law enforcement departments throughout the U.S. frequently use social media as a tool, including agencies on the Federal, State, and Local levels.

For more information on the growing social media trend among our nation’s law enforcement refer to the infographic below and be sure to share your point of view in the comments.