紐約成立社交網絡警察部門
The New York Police Department announced it will form a new unit to search social media as part of its law enforcement efforts, responding to the criminals’ growing use of these sites to plan and celebrate illegal exploits.
Assistant Commissioner Kevin O’Connor is in charge of an NYPD unit created specifically to comb social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and BlackBerry messenger for information on planned crimes and their perpetrators.
Law enforcement has linked social media to increasing incidents of flash robs in the US and the recent looting and rioting in London. Public safety agencies are consequently looking to step up their game in order to better protect citizens against these trends.
In the London riots in particular, law enforcement suspects the looters relied heavily on BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) to coordinate and plan their riotous spree. Police there are working with BBM maker Research In Motion to decipher the messages and identify those responsible for burning and pillaging London stores.
The mobility, economy and encryption BBM and other smartphone messaging services provide make it hard for law enforcement to anticipate criminal activity, especially if they aren’t as familiar with this technology as are the offenders. The NYPD unit intends to educate officers about such technology to improve this handicap.
For social media providers and smartphone makers, the criminal element’s preference for their products is putting them in the sticky position of determining how to assist law enforcement without betraying lawful customers’ privacy.
In addition to sniffing out the first signs of a troublesome house party, flash robs, gang clashes, and other mayhem, the NYPD’s unit will scour sites for evidence of already-committed crimes. Many youthful offenders post information, pictures and videos of their criminal misdeeds on social media sites after the fact, either not knowing or not caring how that information can be used against them.
Also, disputes that begin on Facebook, Twitter or via text messaging sometimes end up in a real-world crime, and social media can provide evidence of ongoing family feuds and other disagreements. That was the case this past spring in New York, when those investigating a stabbing between two friends found evidence they had previously argued on Facebook over $20 in diapers.
The new unit will operate under the Community Affairs Bureau and also coordinate several of the city’s outreach programs.隨着社交媒體的流行，犯罪者以此來策劃或慶祝非法活動的情況也日趨多見。紐約警察局近日宣佈，爲更有效執法，將新成立一個社交網絡警察部門，在社交媒體上搜索犯罪信息。
該部門專職在臉譜、推特、黑莓信使等社交媒體上搜尋關於有計劃犯罪及其罪犯的信息，負責人是助理專員凱文•奧康納。
美國境內暴力事件日趨多發，倫敦近日還暴發了騷亂，執法部門認爲這與社交媒體密不可分。因此，公共安全部門正加強措施，保護公民免受暴亂潮的傷害。
尤其在倫敦騷亂事件中，執法部門懷疑搶掠者們大力仰仗黑莓信使來協調和策劃騷亂行爲。當地警方與黑莓信使生產商動態研究公司合作，解密信息，找出那些在倫敦燒搶商店的罪犯。
黑莓信使和其它智能手機通訊服務的移動性、經濟性和加密性，使得警方執法時更難預料犯罪行爲，尤其是當他們不如罪犯熟悉這一科技時更是如此。新成立的社交網絡警察部門將幫助警員們熟知這種通訊技術，克服這一障礙。
對於社交媒體提供商和智能手機制造商來說，犯罪分子對其產品的偏愛將他們陷入了兩難的境地，如何能在協助執法的同時又不背叛合法顧客的隱私權？
除了要儘快發現麻煩不斷的家庭聚會、搶劫、幫派衝突和其它暴行外，社交網絡警察還要在社交網站上搜尋已知罪行的證據。很多年輕罪犯在肇事後將犯罪信息、照片、視頻等上傳到社交網站上，而這些恰恰成爲了罪證，他們卻渾然不知或者毫不在乎。
同時，始於臉譜、推特或短信的分歧有時也會挑起事端，社交媒體可以爲正在發生的家庭不和、和其它紛爭提供證據。今年春天，紐約警方在調查一起發生在兩位朋友間的刺殺案件時發現，兩人曾在臉譜網站上爲了20美元的尿布發生過口角。
這一新部門將受社區事務部領導，並將協調紐約市其它一些拓展項目。
