Police finding evidence on social networking sites

 by Matt Culbertson
 published on Thursday, March 27, 2008

Facebook.com users might be getting an arrest warrant instead of a poke, comment or friend request from law enforcement if their online profiles incriminate them in a police investigation.

East Valley police are using social networking Web sites like Facebook, MySpace.com and YouTube.com for evidence of criminal wrongdoing, police spokesmen said.

Social networking Web sites can be some of the best evidence for a criminal investigation, said Scottsdale Police Sgt. Mark Clark.

"We love them," he said of the Internet sites. "If it's available to us, we use it."

Some ASU Police detectives have Facebook and MySpace accounts specifically for use in police work, added ASU Police Cmdr. Jim Hardina.

According to an ASU Police report released this month, the department's investigation into a Sept. 1 aggravated assault included at least nine photos from Facebook with the names of suspects tagged under the pictures. ASU Police Detective Robert Russo explained in the report how the photos were used to identify suspects in the investigation.

While the investigation into the assault — which included dozens of ASU students, according to the report — did not result in enough evidence for prosecution, Hardina said Web sites like Facebook are very useful tools for police.

"It's a good place to get information on somebody," he said. "We've had suspects identified through Facebook."

Police have used social networking sites for years as evidence in investigations, Hardina added.

And as more students use Web sites like Facebook and MySpace, the sites become better resources for law enforcement, he said.

While police normally use the sites as tools in investigations, other organizations can use information posted on the Internet as reason to punish students, he said.

"I know the University's even disciplined students for drinking in dorms," he said.

According to media reports, a YouTube video of young boys from Scottsdale vandalizing cars was instrumental for Scottsdale police, who later arrested the boys.

And, in a separate incident, a bouncer at the Scottsdale bar Dos Gringos turned himself in to police after a YouTube video surfaced of the bouncer punching a man and knocking him down.

Psychology junior Jason Mamangon said it could be an effective use of police resources to look into social networking sites during criminal investigations.

"By definition, it's not really an invasion of privacy," Mamangon said.

While it might be easy for police to misinterpret someone's personal profile, sites like Facebook provide law enforcement with a wealth of information, he said.

But Brian Ortbahn, a mechanical engineering technology junior, said he sees such investigations as an invasion of privacy.

"I don't like what they're doing," Ortbahn said.

He added that, because Web sites contain public information, people should take responsibility for what they post online.

"Once you put it out there, it's your fault," he said.

Reach the reporter at: matt.culbertson@asu.edu.