Pearl River County turning to Facebook to fight crime

PEARL RIVER COUNTY, MS (WLOX) -

The Pearl River County Sheriff’s Department is turning to Facebook to fight crime. If you friend the department, you’ll find the faces of wanted criminals. As Al Showers reports, the idea is to use the power of social media to put criminals behind bars.

The newest pics on the Pearl River County Sheriff’s Department Facebook page probably aren’t friends with Sheriff’s Department. County crime fighting has hit social media.

“We just decided that we would post photos or mug shots of our wanted felons. And put their pictures and information for what they’re wanted for,” said Shane Tucker, the Chief Deputy of Pearl River County’s Sheriff’s Department.

Tucker said using the power of social media to track down suspected criminals is just another tool to stay ahead of the bad guys.

“There are individuals that spend significant amounts of time on social networking sites,” Tucker said. ”They’re friends with a lot people that may be friends with some of the folks that we’re looking for.”

But if you don’t want to be the one tagging a friend as a criminal, Tucker said they have way to protect someone’s anonymity.

“They can respond with a tip on the facebook page itself. Or if they’re uncomfortable with us knowing their identity, the phone numbers for our department are posted, and they can contact our department anonymously,” Tucker said.

The department’s year old Facebook page evolved from social to serious about a month ago.

“If we had a missing child, that would be another avenue along with other investigative resources that are available to get information out to the public quickly or tips related to crimes,” Tucker said.

So far, Facebook hasn’t slammed the cuffs on anyone, but deputies are confident it will. And they know, social media will can help them protect and serve.

The Pearl River County Emergency Management Agency is also using Facebook as a tool to give and receive information from the public. You can find either agency on Facebook by searching their names.

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Yokota crime fighters set up Facebook tips page

YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — Hoping to increase tips on fraud and similar crimes, Air Force investigators here are taking the unprecedented approach of reaching out to the public via social media.

The Air Force Office of Special Investigations Detachment 21 recently set up a “Yokota AB – Report Fraud, Waste, and Abuse” Facebook page, the main feature being an online survey for reporting such crimes in the military community.

But unlike Facebook, the survey is anonymous, said Special Agent James Merenda, commander of the OSI detachment at Yokota. The aim is to provide another avenue for anonymous tipsters to report crimes, Merenda said.

The Yokota OSI detachment is the first in the Air Force to elicit tips on Facebook, he said.

Law enforcement agencies around the world have increasingly been using social networking sites to track, investigate and bust criminals. Despite federal laws that protect whistleblowers, fear of reprisal is the No. 1 reason people don’t report wrongdoing in workplace, he said.

Although anonymous sources often limit an investigator’s ability to fully explore a tip, “I’d rather have someone put out the information in the first place,” he said.

The survey is short and ostensibly vague to elicit a variety of tips. It was not established in relation to any ongoing or suspected fraud cases, Merenda said.

Facebook seemed like a novel way to generate interest in reporting fraud, waste and abuse as more military commands draw followings on social media networks, he said.

It’s still too early to gauge whether the Facebook page and survey — which went up in late July — have generated any substantial information for investigators, Merenda said.

“There’s more information out there that we’re not getting completely,” he said. “We’ll see if this helps.”

reedc@pstripes.osd.mil

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