Criminology and Law Enforcement Officials Using Social Media To Fight Crime

For years now, the world has become a very high-tech place, and just like with everyone else, criminals are also becoming more astute and coming up with more technological ways to break the law. Ever since the Internet started seeing widespread use, Criminology and law enforcement officials have been playing catch-up to try and monitor all of the offenders that are currently on the web. Now, as social media has taken hold, it seems that officials now have a new tool in fighting crime.

Social media has allowed the world to become interconnected and interface with one another through the digital format of social media. More and more of our connections are going through online forums, but it’s also having the side-effect of keeping track of everything we say. Law enforcement agencies around the country are beginning to realize the power of social media for their own purposes.

Police blogging has become relatively popular lately, and it’s beginning to allow police stations across the country to keep up on the events of the day. Many people are already familiar with the police sergeant sitting at the registry desk, but now a station can keep track of Twitter feeds, blogs, and updates. It offers officials and the public a real-time way to see the crimes that are being committed in their area. These blogs are publishing crimes and arrests and keeping track of the real-world activity through online avenues. This is becoming a very useful tool to keep an open dialogue and exchange of information between citizens and police. Average citizens can also post on these blogs to let police know about what’s going on and it’s quicker than a phone call.

There have been sites where people could go online and see the latest wanted criminals, but now different law agencies are beginning to use Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms to update and keep people aware of local criminals that are at large in their area. The great thing about social media is that it’s instantaneous, and officers can keep the public aware of what’s going on up to the minute. This has been done through fan pages as well as local and district specific pages. Their usage has become more fine-tuned over time, and it’s increasing in regularity. It’s another example of how much social media is changing our everyday lives.

Many aren’t aware of the term, but social media stakeouts are becoming a popular tool to find criminals in every background. Some social media advocates argue that this has become a sort of invasion of privacy but police and law enforcement officials aren’t hacking into anything, they’re merely listening in. Whether you agree with it or not, it’s given police the ability to track important information and search real-time for offenders and key words and phrases that are of particular interest. This social media monitoring is a preemptive measure that’s getting a lot of attention. There exists the possibility that these social forums could be abused by officials but there’s no doubt that it has helped them to keep up with the times.

It’s not clear as to how much control different offices of enforcement really have over our personal and social media accounts. There’s been a lot of speculation over Facebook’s complicity in working with companies and governments and sharing personal information. Currently, it’s only through accusations. People are worried about “big-brother,” but it’s essential that we give our law enforcement officials the tools they need, within reason, to combat crime in an evolving society. Otherwise, we could run the risk of giving criminals a better ability to curtail the law and hurt others.

This post is a guest post from the Davenport Institute.

The mobile workplace is growing (and maybe three reasons still against it)…

There are only three reasons left why we might have a small workplace or personal roll container in the future (although most UK workers seem to see no reason for having an office by 2021)…

1. Controling still store paperwork as lawyers and tax consultants recomment it (fear of data loss).
2. HR wants to take control of how much time you spend in the office (productivity check – employees check employees).
3. A boss that fears to loose control over your work productivity (better see than hope, hierarchy could change).

However, I have stated in many interviews lately why -except for the three reasons above- I love to work mobile, in hotel lobbies, lounge bars, at the airport or in restaurants as well as coffee shops. And I have not ever thought about my past and how co-workers might have a killing impact on my lifetime. Thanks for sharing the Tel Aviv University study insights, Wired!

OK, I have to admit, I have found bars that call themselves “News Bar” and still don’t offer any WiFi connection for their guests – but hundreds of print magazines. It somehow fits my theme “Talking is Online, Silence is Print!” but business is challenging if you want to work in your mobile office.

Nevertheless, smartphones, laptops, tablets and WiFi offer us a complete new workplace freedom and leverage mobile productivity. We use those devices to finish more and more work from whereever we are.

The wrong use of the mobile workplace is exaggered and extreme mobilie efficiency. Quite often I see people in cars, using the time when commuting to and from the office efficiently (and in a very dangerous way, see the “Don’t text and drive!” Facebook page) checking emails during two red traffic-light periods.

Spot On!
I am happy that companies like Gist create infographics that put together data explaining the rise of the mobile workforce. It gives insights on device popularity and and the preference of where people love to work mobile.

Managers should start thinking about how they could make the mobile office a flexble solution for their employees, don’t you think?

Study: Will the traditional office be extinct by 2021? Yes, say 58% of UK workers…

How long will we continue working in traditional offices? How long is commuting still a must to keep a good job? A question that I got asked quite often in the last months. My view is, it won’t take another decade to understand that there are several ways to establish a new and more efficient work-life balance instead of commuting in the office every day. However, I see many challenges for our social society when thinking about jobs and social engagement…

A recent study by Virgin Business Media now shows some similar insights. It states that 58% of U.K. workers think offices of today will not exist in ten years’ time. The study was commissioned to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the British sitcom The Office (basis for the U.S. show).

The findings are based on a research that surveyed 1,000 U.K. workers that gave feedback on how their working lives have changed over the last ten years, and how they expect them to change over the next ten years. It has to be said that it was predominantly based on the impacts of technology…

Working remotely will be the new trend. Commuting and traditional offices will be out soon. At least that is what UK workers predict: 56% of respondents are not seeing themselves commuting in 2021 like they do today. An impressive 83% respond that technology enables them to become more productive in the last ten years. Productivity in the future means (62% say so) they would use just one device to handle both their personal and work life in ten years’ time.

The question will be if people will want to work from home, or prefer to continue commuting. Having someone to talk to, not being forgotten and having a need to show somebody that you are really “at work” might be reasons against the future outlook with no traditional offices space.

Spot On!
In May a report from Regus and Unwired called VWork: Measuring the benefits of agility at work makes clear that only 12,3% of respondents want to work from home. It will be interesting to see whether companies offices will extinct, or if companies will give their employees money to find coworking space (like the car allowance concept), or if they host coworking space (in order to recruit new people…). The virtual office will be the future for many people. I just can see lawyers, controllers or HR people who might need their traditional offices. The rest will be able to work remotely… It is more flexible, more agile for marketing, sales and business development, and people are motivated to have more meetings.

Would you agree? Do you see this development as dangerous? What is your view on the extinction of office space?

News Update – Best of the Day

Every social media expert out there loves talking about The Cluetrain Manifesto and it’s impact on the future of our marketplaces. Now that the Cluetrain is more than 10 years old, I am trying to follow it’s creators in order to see how their views have changed. One of the founders Doc Searls -after Christopher Locke and david Weinberger some weeks ago- was writing last week about the main drivers of the open marketplace transaction, conversation and relationship. “Marketing is now all gaga over “social media” as well, in part because many believe that Cluetrain was all about “social” markets”, he says, and I have to admit sometimes I do see it that way, too. Having agreed with him, I do have to add: Technology changes quickly but it is difficult to change a market situation – no matter if social or open. Why? In the first place, it is driven by human beings. And it takes them a long time to adapt new culture. Haven’t we seen this 10-15 years ago when all this internet hype started? In some way, we seem to be on this learning curve again. Don’t you agree?

There are many valuable Twitter tool lists. Vadim Lavrusik created one of the (in my eyes) best Twitter tools top 20 lists that will help you improve your Twitter experience.

Adbands has become a classic event in the last years. And the commercial which was produced for the event tells us why. No more to say…

Gen Y and Z: Digital safety becomes more important

Recent studies show that the young internet generations are concerned about their privacy and online safety. The Habbo study on Generation Z web users makes clear that schools and parents have the most influence in terms of educating young people about responsible and safe online behaviour. They learn about online safety at school (29%) or their family (20%) – friends only 10%.

The Gen Z feels that online safety would become increasingly important in the future (61%). They still fell fairly safe in most online environments (55%). Only 19% say they don’t feel safe in many digital areas.

Gen Y, the Millenials that put a lot of private details online, also pays more attention to their privacy than older generations. However, recent research by the Pew Internet Project states that most members of the American Gen Y were more likely to monitor privacy settings. They make identification more difficult as they often delete comments or remove their names from photos.

The Berkeley Center for Law and Technology found out that 88% of responding Gen Y-ers want a law that would require websites to delete captured information. And they go even further. In an ideal world, 62% of them wanted the right to know everything a website knows about them.

Spot On!
Seeing this development, it could be asked whether social networks and digital platforms should not be more careful in stepping into the social graphs of their users from a marketing and monetization perspective. When social media platforms can see via fan pages which brands I like and which not, it could potentially destroy the trust that social network users have in them.

So, the question is how to handle this sensitive topic? Any ideas?

News Update – Best of the Day

In one of my meetings last weeks, a pr agency asked me how to connect the social web with virtual events. Jeremiah Owyang summarized it in his post, and saved some of my time.

Drinking and driving is a ‘No Go’ – texting an driving as well? Nevertheless, a lot of people do it, says a study of FindLaw.com, , a legal information Web site. – Scray, right?

For football clubs it is difficult to combine the interest of men and women. This commercial from japan has done it perfectly…

News Update – Best of the Day

Connecting the offline with the online world is one of today’s biggest challenges – not only for businesses but also for the individual. A recent study by Forrester reveals some insights in the increase and decrease on figures focusing the online behavior and internet usage of Americans in the last five years. Frank Reed gives a deeper analysis of the study and brings the message of the study to the point for marketers…

“As Internet users know more about what they want from their online experience it will be critical for marketers to be able to pinpoint those activities. There is less experimentation with broader activities. People know what they like to do online and they go to do that rather than poking around aimlessly.” Frank Reed

And he sees the internet as the extension of offline world. This comes close to my view of my vision…

“Online is just a catalyst of the offline world.” Martin Meyer-Gossner, The Strategy Web

Social media is nothing for lawyers and law firms? Who said that? Just found a very remarkable and long short-list of such companies, written by JD Scoop. If you need some ideas to promote your law business, this is the place to spend some time for “cost-free consulting”.

Adidas produced a wonderful funny commercial. You will be surprised when you see who “runs” these shoes…

News Update – Best of the Day

There are not many case studies on how to leverage social media for business and how to engage customers, partners, and press with social media. One great company example offers Cisco. Mia Dand summarizes Cisco’s approach on openness, transparency and ROI. And if you find the time see also the example of the American red cross by Beth Canter, including their social media strategy handbook…

Twitter and agencies seems to be a relationship that is not yet established for a powerful client mode. AdAge shows some amazing examples where agencies are handling Twitter streams for clients – but the agencies don’t even own their branded accounts, or have a powerful leader or expert which can be shown as a good case study to their clients. Scary?! My advice: Before starting to believe in the agency’s knowledge on social media, read the examples above and then take a look at this short post by Lawrence Perry: How not to be annoying on Twitter and other social media. Then decide which agency is the right one to handle your social media activities…

…and whenever I find a good example of a funny commercial, we will share this…

Safer Internet: Social Networks want to protect children

Let’s hope this was kind of a historical day, yesterday… The day against ‘Cyber-Mobbing’ was called the Safer Internet Day. One reason why 18 companies signed a new kind of declaration of a self-imposed obligation named the Safer Social Networking Principles for the EU contract.

In order to prevent the misuse of new technologies companies go hand-in-hand on their social networking future. Probably, much appreciated from parents is that big social networks have signed the agreement, i.e. MySpace, Facebook, Habbo or Bebo – but also Google and Yahoo belong to the group of signatories.

Spot On!
Children and young people face many risks with new technologies: i.e. cyber-bullying, grooming, privacy violation or exposure to harmful content (pornography, racism, etc). The contract is like a company-grouped agreement to protect young people online more than European legislation already does. As a dad of two kids I definitely appreciate the effort and will keep an eye on it.

News Update – Best of the Day

- Die Online Reputation ist inzwischen auch als Thema für Juristen populär. Das Yale Law Journal hat einen äußerst lesenwerten Beitrag herausgebracht mit dem Titel ‘Reputation as Property in Virtual Economies‘, welcher viele Bereiche der modernen Identitätswandlung behandelt. Im Grunde werden drei Online Identitäten besprochen: E-Commerce-basiert (z.B. amazon.com, etc.), Virtual World Economies (SecondLife and World of Warcraft) and Social Media. Zum letzteren Punkt bemerkt der Autor Joseph Blocher treffend…

“The importance of success in this reputational market can for some people be just as important as financial wealth—many people’s “lives virtually revolve around social-networking sites and blogs.” Indeed, by now it is old news that millions of people spend more time thinking about their Facebook profiles than their investment profiles. (…) The major task for future scholarship about reputational economies is to determine if these reputational norms are clear and enforceable, and whether and how they should be backed by formal rules.”

Passend zum Thema hat Martin Weigert das Thema Online Reputation und Schutz des persönlichen Image mit acht nützlichen Tipps zusammengefasst.

- Immer mehr Menschen haben immer mehr Social Media Profile. Einen Überblick über die Social Media Nutzung in verschiedenen Ländern hat jetzt Comscore World Metrix veröffentlicht (Grafik rechts). eMarketer liefert eine demografische Sicht der US User, basierend auf dem Pew Internet & American Life Project. Hier stellt sich mir nur eine Frage: 35% sind je männlich und weiblich, sprich der Rest ist …?

- Augmented Reallity at it’s finest… am Beispiel von iPhone und Travel Guide umgesetzt. Einfach ansehen und selbst weitere Ideen in den Kommentaren posten.

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