Have you ever "friended" anyone
on Facebook that you really didn't know?
Face it, we all have and sometimes that's just fine and sometimes you
might get hacked. Now there is even more
reason to be careful about what you say and who you "friend" online,
as the NYPD is now going online using aliases and using various social media
for investigation.
Commissioner
Kelly set forth the guidelines for this investigative technique in September,
2012. These were in a 5 page memo and
stated that officers in investigations using social media may register their
aliases with the NYPD and use a "department-issued laptop whose
internet-access card can't be traced back to the NYPD". The Department and prosecutors are assuring
the public that they are using
"strict legal protocols" in all of these investigations. Naturally the criminal defense community and
the ACLU have concerns that this activity by the police might not be monitored
closely enough and could cause issues of entrapment.
As
with all police activities, there is a good side and a bad side to this new
type of investigation. Everyone and his
brother is on Facebook these days and the NYPD has found that some of the
"looser" gang members (not members of a tight gang) are anxious to
intimidate people over the net and also to not too smartly brag about their
achievements on Facebook and Twitter.
This has led to some gang arrests in the Bronx and a federal judge has
considered the privacy issue and at this point has sided with the
prosecution. In addition to being
successful in gang cases, the NYPD has used the technique in an anti-gay attack
in which one of those arrested bragged about the murder on Facebook. The Commissioner has now ordered his officers
to pay attention to posts about parties and other events that go viral online
and get out of hand.
What
does this mean for the everyday citizen?
As always, BE CAREFUL about what you write in email, post on Facebook or
Tweet. You do not have the right to
privacy in public media as you have in a written letter or phone call. You have put this up for the entire world to
see and some of the world may be looking to arrest you. Any time you have any involvement in a crime,
as a witness, victim or even perpetrator, talk to your attorney instead of
blasting the details on the Internet. We
should soon see cases of constitutional disagreement over this issue, but until
the courts make a determination it will be a somewhat wide open area.
