Essay On Social Media And Law Enforcement

The topic I decided to discuss for this research paper is social media and how it affects law enforcement agencies. Technological advances in the recent decades has led social media to be used in everyday modern life. For law enforcement, it has opened up new opportunities to share information with the general public. As our guest speaker mentioned to us on Thursday, the Fort Wayne Police Department uses Twitter and Facebook to make citizens aware of any detours or roads they may want to avoid if possible. Most officers want to be out chasing the bad guys and not behind a desk, but if used correctly, officers can use social media to their advantage. Unfortunately, unregulated social media also opened up opportunities for cyber bullying and stealing identities. In this research paper I will discuss different ways that social media has both made law enforcement more engaged, but also how it has complicated their mission.

One of the most terrifying incidents of mass violence to impact that nation in the recent years was the Boston Marathon bombings. When the law enforcement agencies were attempting to locate the suspects, they used Twitter to correct false information. Social media like Twitter and Facebook has made people more likely to take photographs and share them …show more content…
There isn’t just one specific spot in the United States where it is a bigger issue than in other place. Social media is an issue locally, state wide, and even federally. Locally social media can be used for cyber bullying. State wide social media can be used for finding wanted criminals. Federally social media can be used for possibly terrorist threats. According to a survey I found eighty two percent of local agencies use social media, seventy one perfect of state agencies use social media, and eighty one of federal agencies use social