- by Michael Wu
As the world becomes increasingly virtually connected through the Internet, police officials have to stay on the cutting edge of technology especially real-time social media networks to aid their crime fighting efforts. In a paper published by the journal Decision Support Systems, University of Virginia’s researchers found, that in 19 out of 25 of the crime types they studied, the addition of Twitter data improves crime prediction performances versus a standard approach of post-crime “kernel density estimation” also known as “hot spot” policing. [1]
With over 140 million users worldwide who are posting over a combined 340 million tweets per day, research has found that through Twitter analytics events such as elections or national revolutions can be forecasted through tracking the content and geographic locations of these tweets. Since tweets contain both geographic clues through “tagging” oneself at events and content about what events are happening in real time, police are able to improve crime prediction and more efficiently allocate police patrols to aid their constituents and save on costs.
Lead researcher Matthew Gerber of the university's Predictive Technology Lab and author said, “Even tweets that have no direct link to crimes may contain information about activities often associated with them. What people are tweeting about are their routine activities. Those routine activities take them into environments where crime is likely to happen.” [2]
While most crimes are not out right confessed to on Twitter or other social media sites, police are able to use context clues to piece together locations where crime is more likely to occur. For example at a party as people tweet about how they are getting drunk together and there are certain crimes that become more likely as inebriation rises among people, police can know that the likelihood of a crime occurring in that area is higher and allocate more police officers around the area accordingly.
The importance of real-time data became apparent last week when a 14-year old Dutch girl jokingly tweeted a terror threat at American Airlines. In the tweet she wrote, “@AmericanAir hello my name's Ibrahim and I'm from Afghanistan. I'm part of Al Qaida and on June 1st I'm gonna do something really big bye.” American Airlines subsequently followed up by responding, “@QueenDemetriax_ Sarah, we take these threats very seriously. Your IP address and details will be forwarded to security and the FBI.” Subsequently the girl was arrested and charged with posting “false/alarming announcements” under Dutch laws. [3]
While the previous scenario was much less serious than a legitimate bomb threat, the speed with which authorities were able to respond to the threat being posted demonstrates the power of Twitter analytics. The girl turned herself in within a few hours after authorities began to close in on her location after receiving the tweet. In a real-world terrorist situation the speed at which authorities move to apprehend a terror suspect could mean the difference between life and death for thousands of people. [4]
One interesting thought I had concerning the topic of social media network posts to aid policing was how the Internet and its social media site surveillance are still at their nascent stage in being utilized as a law enforcement aid. While Twitter can be a helpful tool as seen in the swift arrest of the Dutch 14-year old girl, it can also serve as a double-edged sword. Just hours after this particular arrest, dozens of teenagers sent tweets at American Airlines parodying the girl’s “terrorist threat” as the news went viral. In addition to wasting taxpayer money and man-power as authorities then have to shoulder the responsibility of investigating all of these tweets, these types of “trolls” and jokes only dangerously serve to obfuscate legitimate threats and hinder law enforcement efforts to engage with social media.
[1] http://www.boston.com/news/nation/2014/04/20/researchers-twitter-can-predict-crime/6DaUTjYGHMtZqpezsIGxwL/story.html
[2] http://ptl.sys.virginia.edu/ptl/sites/default/files/manuscript_gerber.pdf
[3] http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/14/travel/dutch-teen-arrest-american-airlines-terror-threat-tweet/
[4] http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/style-blog/wp/2014/04/14/dozens-of-teenagers-are-now-tweeting-bomb-jokes-to-american-airlines/
It is really interesting to think about the advantages that such social media like Twitter can bring to the law enforcement and strategies for policing. When I think of how much we depend on the use of social media on daily basis, it is truly amazing how the social media can improve law enforcement even from prevention of those crimes by keeping track of potential dangers. I had a guest speaker in other class last semester, and I remember how the "Twitting" and "Re-Twitting" can contribute in finding the suspects or the witnesses for such crimes like kidnapping. But, as Michael also mentioned, it is also "a double-edge sword" because of those misuse of the easiness of spreading words or the speed of sharing contents without being investigated fully. Though, if law enforcement can utilize social media in the process of investigating or chasing the suspects, collecting the evidence of previous trails, etc., it can contribute to the massive development in law enforcement and policing.
ReplyDeleteSophie Park
Michael, you dig deeper into law enforcement capacity and interest in social media to anticipate and act on criminality due to the social geographies revealed through such media as twitter. At the same time, law enforcement agencies, including some of our own, use these same methods to monitor and interrupt collective organizations mobilizing to engage is social movements and expressive grievances. So, like legality, these surveillance practices are a dual edged sword.
ReplyDeleteThis blog post relates to the concept we learned earlier in the semester called 'function creep.' The law enforcement and government can utilize these social media platforms in other functions such as surveilling citizens to find 'hot spots' where crime is likely to happen. From the perspective of the law enforcement, this is an effective method in obtaining information about the citizens without having to physically patrol the streets. However, it is important to be aware that such use of social media may attract not only the attention of the law enforcement, but other 'criminals' who may use social media for their benefits. For example, a thief can find out location of victims and track whether they left their home for a vacation to rob a house. Many stalkers can also utilize social media. In today's technological society, social media is becoming more prevalent and I do believe that it is effective for law enforcement to, but as citizens we should be aware that you never know who is accessing our personal information and location.
ReplyDelete-Brenda Lee
It’s definitely a good thing that law enforcement agencies are trying to stay up-to-date with technology, not only so that they can apprehend people using the technology to commit crimes but also to use the technology themselves to assist them in doing their jobs. However, it’s apparent that they still need to work on familiarizing themselves with the nature of people uploading data onto social networking sites, which is to say that often use it as a way of joking around, as with the case of the Dutch girl. In addition to arguably violating free speech rights, it’s also downright unreasonable (not to mention unfeasible) for law enforcement to try to track/arrest everyone that says something potentially threatening on every social networking site.
ReplyDeleteThomas Smith
It's interesting to see how technology can be used for many things that it wasn't meant to be created for. You make a valid point about twitter and such being potential sources of "trolling" because people still want to refuse helping the police and many only want to make it harder for them to work. One example this reminds me of is the prevalence in prank calling in the early 2000s, when tv shows and the news were filled with it. Although twitter can lead to such examples as reporting crimes, it could also increase the number of false reports and police will have to make judgment calls on whether or not to listen to them, resulting in many potential crimes being ignored and many dead ends being followed.
ReplyDelete-Dylan Tong
DYLAN,
ReplyDeleteThis was super interesting to me and it's something that I often think about while using my social media accounts. Literally everyday when I am either scrolling through my Facebook feed, or Instagram timeline, I see people posting self-incriminating pictures, wall post, and comments. I often think to myself, "how stupid can you be?". I don't understand why people think that they are not, or are not capable of, being surveilled via the internet. What easier way to catch a criminal then by them posting a picture, or writing a post, about their crime? One example that I see almost daily is people packaging, selling, or using illegal substances, like drugs. I think often times people feel invisible on the internet and forget that the internet in particular is a public domain, "The World Wide Web". Regardless of how private your account is, or how far away you are, people on social media need to realize that even on the internet, and no matter where you are on the planet, anything you say, or in this case post, can and WILL be used against you in the court of law.
Tiarra Pittman
I found this post interesting. What I liked most is that it allowed me to consider what kind of "crime" police departments will be scouting for on twitter. For example, one of the scenarios you mention is people getting drunk at a house party. As with most law enforcement tactics, I am skeptical of how the technology will ACTUALLY be implemented. What I mean is, will police officers simply be scouting twitter for house parties to arrest minors for underage drinking and/or possession of narcotics. Or will this sort of information be used to set up DUI checkpoint around the neighborhood where the party is being thrown? I ask because as we have learned in class, arrests (specifically felony) are what cops consider success, but I think we need to consider what kinds of arrests they are making and what kind of reform this will produce within the community. If police officers start using social media sites as a way to arrest more individuals, for the sake of making more arrests, I feel this will be just another way that police officers will be able to marginalize certain groups through the power of technology. - Chelsea Goddard
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you that police and other law enforcement are moving more towards social media to find evidence and to further prosecute criminals. A lot of people don't realize that what they put on the internet, whether or not their profile is private it is still on a public forum which can be accessed by other people in some way shape or from.
ReplyDelete-Jarred Boone
It is very interesting to be on any type of social media and see people incriminating themselves. As for the girl who tweeted American Airlines, it was definitely remarkable how quickly authorities were able to locate her. It doesn't quite make sense to me why anyone would want to post jokes regarding terrorism online and direct it at an airline. It is obvious that authorities have access to Twitter, just like everyone else, but it seems that people lack the understanding that once something is posted online it normally has a geo-tag attached to it. Even when people turn that feature off, I'm sure there is a way to find out exactly where and when photos were taken or a post was posted. It is unbelievable how many people post incriminating photos and posts online, and don't think that they will get caught. In this day and age, people should really have a better understanding that once something is online, it is archived somewhere and it can be used against them.
ReplyDeleteErica Au
I agree that social media could be a great tool in preventing things such as attacks or other crimes. We often forget who has access to our social media pages, even if we use functions like setting our profiles to private. However, I think social media could also be a tool to aid possible threats. Social media connects everyone-- even those who are in radical groups such as Neo-Nazis. You can even find videos on Youtube teaching you how to do things such as breaking into cars. It can be a tool for prevention or solving crimes, but it is also a tool for possible criminals who had they not had access to such information would've never committed the crimes otherwise.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how useful social media outlets such as twitter will be for law enforcement once users become aware of the surveillance. Using social media for law enforcement purposes definitely has its benefits, but greatly restricts what users are allowed to post. In time people will become so aware of what they are posting that they will begin policing themselves and twitter's usefulness for predicting crime may become severely reduced. However, the way that people responded to the Dutch girl's arrest, may hint that users will not accept policing and continue to post nearly incriminating information.
ReplyDelete-Alex Rose
Also semi-interesting and semi-relevant was the #myNYPD hashtag, started by the NYPD as a plan to act as a big PR move, connecting all the nice pictures of the NYPD in action in order to regain legitimacy. Which then backfired and people started sharing images of NYPD brutality, with the same hashtag.
ReplyDeleteAlso interesting, is the notion of people's Twitter accounts being sub-subpoenaed. Which is an interesting legal invention.
It's just interesting to see how all of our notions of police are getting re-applied online.
-Mark Sheppard