San Francisco Police Scouring Instagram, Facebook To Catch Crooks
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- San Francisco police are now paying an officer to spend his day checking out Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to catch criminals.
"Criminals are evolving more to high tech realms and so should we," said San Francisco Police Department spokesperson Albie Esparza.
Police investigative units are gaining ground against illegal activity by making use of online activity through social media.
"It's not uncommon for officers in law enforcement to turn to social media in the course of their investigation," Esparza said.
More officers are being asked to learn the ins and outs of networking sites, especially knowing the right trending topics or hashtags.
The tactic of catching bad guys via the Internet can be applied to all sites: Facebook, Twitter or Vine.
"Criminals are now posting a lot of their guns, their narcotics," Esparza said.
Just recently, a SFPD investigator was able to nab a wanted felon after finding an Instagram picture of him with a gun.
"It's more common than you think," Esparza said. "I mean people like to glorify and post whatever for anything."
This isn't the first time police have turned to social media. Earlier this year, San Francisco police were able to return a stolen cello to a young girl after blasting video of the suspects on Facebook and YouTube.
Then in 2012 police posted a picture of a man throwing a police barricade into a Muni bus during the World Series celebration. He was found and arrested.
To make an arrest in these cases, officers need probable cause.
Police say the threshold in a court is higher, and that's when Instagram comes into play. If you have pictures or video, that is indisputable.
