Web's Largest listing of crowdsourcing and crowdfunding events

Events

Advertise

Web's Largest Directory of Sites

2,412 crowdsourcing and crowdfunding sites

Arkansas law enforcement using social media to fight crime

document Distributed Knowledge

Arkansas law enforcement using social media to fight crime
Jan 12, 2012

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) -- Several law enforcement agencies around Arkansas are taking crime off the street and making note of it on social media sites. The Garland County Sheriffs Department is one of the agencies using Facebook to post arrest pictures and alert their community about criminals. They're not alone, as Conway County Sheriffs Department is doing the same thing, posting professional pictures of individual deputies. We're used to seeing law enforcement officers out patrolling the streets or responding to emergency calls.

Now, you can find them on Facebook and Twitter. Lieutenant James Martin with the Garland County Sheriff's Department says they've got quite the following. "I believe right now we have around 3700 that like us or are following us on Facebook. Lieutenant Martin is just one of many local deputies that help get information out to the people they serve. He says they update their post with a variety of information. "A lot of the information that we share is on calls and arrest that we've made. Maybe, burglaries in progress that the officers were able to respond to and catch the act." And he says, their Facebook followers are pleased with the updates that come through their news feed. "It has worked out real well for us. We've gotten good feedback from it, we get good comments, we get good suggestions and ideas that come from it and so far it's been great. No issues or problems." But, it does raise some privacy issues. Dr. Jeffery Walker, Professor of Criminal Justice at UALR says the public must remember the basics of civil rights. "You have to take it as it's meant. For example, you can't confuse somebody who pops up on a police website as arrested as being convicted of the crime. Those are two different things."

Dr. Walker does agree that Social Media changes everything, even how we view these pictures of a drug bust on I-40 courtesy of the Conway County Sheriff's Department. "For law enforcement and police departments it just makes it so much easier for them to do things. You can almost with the flip of a switch as your putting people in or reports in you can have it just shoot straight to the webpage or the Facebook or whatever."

Summary
Several law enforcement agencies around Arkansas are taking crime off the street and making note of it on social media sites.

Description
According to Lieutenant James Martin with the Garland County Sheriff's Department "A lot of the information that we share is on calls and arrest that we've made. Maybe, burglaries in progress that the officers were able to respond to and catch the act. It has worked out real well for us. We've gotten good feedback from it, we get good comments, we get good suggestions and ideas that come from it and so far it's been great. No issues or problems."

Tags: crime, Crowdsource, Crowdsourcing, Social Media

Posted by Fiona Mares

Jan 15, 2012 08:16 am GMT Viewed 1635 times

Author: Meredith Mitchell Source

Contact us if you are owner of this content and want to make changes.

Download Flag This

Events

Arkansas law enforcement using social media to fight crime

Comments

Crowdsourcing.org

Categories

Content

Crowdsourcing.org, an initiative by massolution®

Events

Related Content

Arkansas law enforcement using social media to fight crime

Comments

Crowdsourcing.org

Categories

Content

Crowdsourcing.org, an initiative by massolution®