Social Media and Law Enforcement
Christian Perez

After the Boston marathon bombings, social media played a major role on the incident providing true facts and other times not so true.
Media is a means of communication with the intent to influence a wide audience (Stuart, 2013). Social networking, which allows multiple people to share information with one another and it provides the public with reporting power of major or everyday incidents with the push of a button. Law enforcement agencies are well aware of this and have stepped up their efforts of using this means of communications as a crime fighting tool. Social media can be used for public relations, crime prevention, and criminal investigation. Departments that create a presence on social media sites open a new door of communication with the general public. By doing so citizens can receive real-time information, as well as an electronic method of asking questions, making suggestions, and providing tips that help solve crimes (Stuart, 2013). However, there has to be some kind of controls established to manage the information in a way that does not create misinformation and technicalities.
Community Policing
In the first 48 hours of the Boston marathon bombings, law enforcement officials released to the public information on the suspects and asked the people to share with them any information they had in reference to the incident and social media played a great role. A picture clearly shows one of the eventual suspects with a backpack standing next to the finish line railing and another picture after the explosion show the same individual calmly walking away with no backpack. This information was vital to the investigation and identification of the perpetrators.
According to Dan Alexander, Chief of Police, Boca Raton, Florida, Police Services Department (2008) the Boca Raton, Florida, Police Services Department (BRPD) was one of the first law enforcement departments in the country to embrace social media. It happened in 2007, when this affluent oceanfront city fell into the national spotlight because of a double homicide of a mother and her daughter at an upscale mall. The department turned to one of the only widespread social networking sites at the time, Myspace, to post information and ask for anonymous leads in the case. If we take in consideration the fiscal crisis, the budget cuts, social media is a great tool because most media outlets have made drastic cutbacks that not only affect the way they cover the news but also what they cover. In this case we can observe how social media can be used as a direct link between the public and law enforcement agencies.
Courts
Stacy Parks Miller, Centre County, PA District Attorney said in a report by Mallory Lane for wearecentralpa.com that "Social media, or any kind of statements made on a phone, on a computer, are fair game for law enforcement,” and "They're absolutely usable and we use them." The amount of cases being solved in court by evidence found in social media keeps growing and courts are listening. In contrast, social media can also create some problems since it is online and jurors are exposed and can create impartiality thus affecting the verdict.
According to Miller(2012), Casey Anthony’s defense team used social media to monitor public opinion and assess reactions to the actual trial (which was available online through streaming video). The case was a hotbed of public opinion, armchair jurors and heated discussions among complete strangers, and people were generally quick to voice an opinion online. And a candid one at that. By observing social media outlets, the Casey Anthony defense team created a cost-effective (albeit somewhat skewed) shadow jury.

Control of information
There could be problems when it comes to how and when law enforcement can use social media outlets whether by relying on false or malicious information to solve crimes or by officers of the law on their personal accounts post information that can affect investigations or bring discredit to their departments. According to “Grisly MySpace Page Gets Cop Suspended,” an article from CBS News, February 11, 2009, When exposed, inappropriate information may lead to undesirable attention from the media and other parties. In one such instance, a defense attorney in Texas found the MySpace page of his client’s arresting officer. The page listed the officer’s occupation as “super hero/serial killer” and included expressions of interest in intense violence and graphic pictures of women with carvings in their skin. The defense attorney claimed this was evidence of the officer’s excessive force against his client. Officers cannot be expected to refrain from maintaining a social presence on the Internet. Therefore, law enforcement agencies must establish criteria for social media usage that balances the constitutional rights of officers while protecting the integrity of departments and investigations.
Conclusion
Social media has proven to be a usable tool for law enforcement in crime fighting case solving and community relations. It has led to courts sentence individuals and presenting evidence but controls need to be established to avoid the possibility of impartiality by jurors or the public.
Law enforcement agencies need to establish measures to protect their officers form the misuse of information and train individuals in operational security and not to bring discredit to their name and departments. Social media has become a link in between the public and law enforcement, but there has to be a standard in order to become more effective.

References

Alexander, D. (2013). Using Technology to Take Community Policing to the Next Level. The Police Chief, 1-2.
Hanson, W. (2011). How Social Media Is Changing Law Enforcement . Government Technology, 1-4.
Lane, M. (2013). Court Cases Easier to Solve With Social Media. BELLEFONTE: wearecentralpa.com.
Mullins, K. (2011). OP-Ed Law enforcement needs to step up their use of social media . Digital Journal, 2.
Stuart, R. (2013). Social Media: Establishing Criteria for Law Enforcement Use. FBI Law enforcement bulletin, 1-2.