1. OLD WAYS WITH NEW
TECHNOLOGY. KEEPING UP
WITH INTERNET POLICING.
Steven Pereira
Gwynedd Mercy University
April 16th, 2015

2. RESEARCH
• When it comes down to using social media there are 1.15 billion users just on Facebook
alone that spend an average of 15 minutes on this website.
• Instagram and Twitter are also other popular social media sites being used today,
allowing you to post pictures, videos, and status updates (updating what your doing or
thinking) instantly.
• Amongst ages ranging from 18-29%, 89% use social media sites
• From 30-49, 72% use social media sites
• From ages 50-60, 60% use social media sites
• From 65 and up 43% use social media

3. RESEARCH CONT.
• Research done at Harvard using 1800 people between January and March found that 28% of
Americans between ages 12 and 17 pay close to no attention to the news.
• Another 32% say they occasionally pay attention to a news source once a day
• From ages 18-30 found that 48 percent are inattentive daily to the news and 23% found that older
Americans largely ignore the news.
• 32 departments have facebook pages
• 30 PD’s had a twitter account
• And only 10 PD’s were using myspace
• 71.1% also use social media for investigative purposes. 48.6% of surveyed police agencies had social
media policy, while 22.1% were in process of creating one.

4. RESEARCH QUESTIONS
• Relationship between social media and Law Enforcements
• Does being involved in social media help law enforcement connect more to the
community?
• Could this be a way to introduce a new unit into PD’s and Law enforcements
• How often do users see breaking events and news on social media.
• How it has benefited Law enforcement Agencies
 Solving Crimes
 Preventing future crimes
 Helping spread the news quicker than news paper or local news.

5. FINDINGS
• In the city of Cincinnati, with the help of social network police were able to
dismantle a local street gang and arrested 71 people in 2008 following a 9 month
investigation that helped identify key members that collected social media
information and existing police records and phone records.
• Police were also able to arrest a man in Minnesota with the help of Facebook and
convicting him of using a fake Facebook page over 2 years and trying to have sexual
relations with underage girls and sentenced him to 12 years in prison.
• Over 75% of the largest U.S. departments currently have a presence on at least one
of the three major social media sites.

6. POTENTIAL FINDINGS
• That social media users tend to see breaking events quick on Instagram, Twitter, or
Facebook compered to local news or newspapers.
• Local Police Departments aren’t using social media or aren’t updating it as quickly
as they can.
• Many social media users tend to see more negative images toward police officers on
social media than they would positive.

7. METHODOLOGY
• Research sites: Philadelphia Police. Inner Cities and Suburban Areas
• Participants: Civilians and social media users. Active and Former police officers
• Data Collection Instruments: Survey Questions . 9 open ended questions. About 10
minutes per survey.

8. MY FINDINGS
• With question number one on the survey, with asking in the last couple years do you
feel social media has given a positive or negative image?
• Many of the responses I received from officers and citizens are that many of the
social media postings do portray a negative image for law enforcement.
• That many are quickly to post a quick video or picture without showing the full
story besides what people want to see. Many of the police officers have said that
there are good postings.

9. MY FINDINGS
• I asked how has social media played a part in helping solve crimes within the
community?
• They agreed upon that it is a positive tool with solving and helping crimes. That
many of these criminals like to post the crime they have done on social media.
• It also helps officers in communities associate individuals with certain groups due to
them posting pictures with other members
• They also help with preventing future crime such as children being kidnapped or
lured by a sexual predator.

10. MY FINDINGS
• How can social media change the way law enforcement protect and serve citizens?
• Many feel that it is a great way for citizens to be able to communicate with officers
and be able to give them tips.
• They also feel that it is a great way to create community events with citizens and
officers to strength that bond.
• It is also a great way to let people in the community to receive breaking news
instantly such as amber alerts or shooting in the neighborhood.

11. MY FINDINGS
• I also asked if creating a new unit for social media crime could help prevent crime in
the future?
• Many of them agreed that it would be beneficial to create a new unit to steady
combat the issues of social media with including cyberbullying and to give police a
source of intelligence on what's going on.
• Everyone agreed that this is the world that we live in and they believe that social
media isn’t going anywhere.
• They can focus on specific crimes such as child predators within chatrooms.

12. MY FINDINGS
• Have you seen any negative or positive videos or pictures on social media that
portray law enforcement?
• The overwhelming responses that I received were that they see more negative
imaging portraying police officers on social media.
• From the videos in Furgerson to the killing of Eric Gardner. That many people are
quicker to post negative things than positive.
• When browsing the internet they do tend to see more negative than positive, but
many have seen positive videos of law enforcement showing kindness.

13. MY FINDINGS
• What did you take away from these videos and pictures? Did they shape your
opinion of the police? How so?
• It was very interesting to see the responses I got from the citizens and the officers.
With the officers it was almost like they had the same point of view. It was like the
agreed that many of the postings don’t show the whole story so they recommend to
get the full story not just what you see on social media.
• With the citizens it seemed as if there perception from these videos didn’t alter they
view on officers, they know they make mistakes but that they are out there for out
better good.

14. MY FINDINGS
• What are some of the ways that social media as connected law enforcement with the
community?
• Everyone agreed upon this, that social media is a great way to communicate with law
enforcement and to strengthen that bond between the community and law enforcement.
• Many of them see events created on social media pages that help generate money for
families of fallen officers.
• Citizens are also proud to be engaged with giving in tips to help solve crimes and they
have a positive outlook when they receive responses from police stations about their
engagement.

15. MY FINDINGS
• Do you feel that social media has become a major part with law enforcement and their
image? Why or why not?
• A majority of the officers and citizens agreed upon that social media has played a part
within their image. That it tends to effect the younger generation who is more
impressionable compared to the older generation.
• Many of the officers feel that they are more within the limelight of the cameras and are
always being watched due to their profession. That individuals are ready to catch them in
the wrong. That they do agree there are good and bad people in their profession like every
other profession.
• Many people also believed that we never get the full story of these short clips, and we
tend to be judgmental before finding out the actual facts.

16. MY FINDINGS
• Do you see any differences in the environment the videos are filmed? For instance do you
notice more videos and pictures from richer or poorer areas? Why do you think that it is?
• Within this question it was almost like a split decision down the middle. Many of them
believed that it didn’t have to do with the environment but the people and the type of
crime and criminal that person was. Others believed that it did have to do with the
environment and that It was more involved in poorer areas.
• Then other people believed it did have to do with the environment, due to that is where
most of the crimes do occur and people are more prevalent to come in contact with
officers.

17. CONCLUSION
• I believe that majority of the people that took the survey believe that social media play a
larger part within these last couple years than it has before.
• That it is a live news feed for people that are using social media, that most of the time when
they do see a posting about police there is absolutely more negative imaging that you will see
positive.
• It was a good thing to come across that even with these overwhelming negative images of
officers with the people that took the survey it didn’t change their views on officers that
majority of them are here to protect and serve.
• It was great to see that many people want a new unit to combat this social media problem with
cyberbullying and that social media does help prevent crime and solve it as well.
• The only thing that really surprised me with the survey was with the view of where these
videos were being filmed, that it was a split decision down the middle, how many people
believed it had to do with the type of criminal and race instead of area. Then there was many
believed It is more in the low economy area due to that’s where most of the crime does happen.