Ian K Ramdhanie, msC,
PRINCIPAL, CISPS
All hands on deck. This is needed to deal with the wide range of crimes taking place in T&T and the wider Caribbean. We need tools that will assist in the preventative, detection, solving and management sides of crime.
In this article, we will explore the uses of social media in crime-fighting. Briefly, social media is a web-based tool that allows users to create and share information with others. The most common social media tools in T&T include Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat.
Nielson, a reputable global information and measurement company, indicated that Internet users spend more time on social media sites than on any other type of sites. This, therefore, can lead us to the conclusion that potential and existing criminals or deviants who are Internet users will also spend time on social media. The challenge, therefore, is for the authorities to be able use social media to tackle crime.
Criminals, either individually or in groups, may use social media to plan, execute and/or report on their activities. In the latter, it may be to claim responsibility in cases of terrorist acts, for example. Social media may also be used by criminals to “brag” about their accomplishments to friends and followers. The recent post by the Rasta City Gang in Trinidad via WhatsApp on their arsenal of arms and ammunition is just one example. Make no doubt about it, criminals are using social media just as non-criminals.
In T&T and the other Caribbean countries, there are a number of authorities that should be using social media to monitor the activities of criminally-inclined persons and organisations. These include police, military, prisons, intelligence, investigators, probation officers, senior security personnel, etc.
Further, and importantly, we should be thinking outside of the box. Should financial institutions monitor the social media activities of employees and customers to ascertain if criminal activities are being planned? Or further, should employers monitor the social media activities of employees to determine if anything untoward is being planned? Issues of privacy and human rights surface here and should be debated.
Training, a big topic. The authorities that ought to be employing the use of social media in crime fighting must be adequately trained. We are certain that criminal gang members communicate using social media and possess a particular vocabulary/code that must be interpreted. Terrorists would also use social media sites to plan and execute their acts.
Additionally, drug traffickers also use social media sites to set up and deliver on their exchanges. Car stealing rackets also utilise the services of social media interconnectivities. Similarly, kidnapping groups access the services of social media sites. What about the importation of arms and ammunition? These transactions also use social media opportunities. Will white-collar criminals use social media applications? Most certainly, yes.
Crimes and offences that are committed by students in secondary and even primary schools; do they use social media to plan and share their activities? Yes. We have seen numerous incidents of fights in and around schools that were posted on facebook for example. Should parents, teachers, deans, principals, guidance counsellors etc, be trained to use social media investigative techniques to monitor the activities of children?
We have all seen pictures and videos taken from inside of the prisons in Trinidad and posted on social media while these devices are prohibited. We have also heard allegations that “shots” are called from within the prison via possible use of social media, cell phone and other lines of communication. What role can prison officers play in using social media investigations to monitor, detect and even prevent future crimes?
There is a strong evidential case that social media can be used to deal with crime. The times have changed considerably from only a few years ago. It will continue to change possibly at an exponential rate. The use of technology, more so, web-based ones, will be of extreme importance. All relevant personnel in this industry must be appropriately prepared otherwise they will always be several steps behind the criminals.
The Caribbean Institute for Security and Public Safety brings this social media and crime-fighting training right onto our doorsteps from September 7-9, 2016 in Trinidad with the experts from Miami Dade College School of Justice. People from the various police, military, corrections, corporate security, investigations, intelligence, private security etc, organisations can benefit from this hands-on training.
We can’t afford to be left behind. We need to increase the number of people and institutions involved in using social media to fight crime, to conduct investigations, to prevent crime, etc.
Social media can be used to unearth vital information that may not have been available through conventional means. It’s a vital source of information. We often hear complaints that the police need more information, we need the public and witnesses to come forward, etc. Now, we have tools to capture information available through other sources. Let’s use the technology to make our society a safer one for all. We must be steps ahead of the criminals.
Contact the CISPS for the Using Social Media in Investigations international training, Sept 7-9, 2016. Tel: 223-6999, 299-8635, info@caribbeansecurityinstitute.com, www.caribbeansecurityinstitute.com. Over 100 other courses are also available.
