This one post started it all..

 

 

Police departments have turned to social media to help solve crimes, track witnesses and suspects, and monitor activity in their jurisdictions. It’s no surprise then that this young man, who likely thought he was just a face in the crowd, didn’t realize that he would soon be caught.

It all started with this young man was enjoying Spring Break festivities. At some point, it appears that the police were patrolling the area, and he thought it would be funny to launch a football at them. After all, he’s in a crowd of people, who seem to be cheering him on, and he’ll never get caught, right?

Wrong.

Police departments monitor social media activity, and especially so during events or Spring Break periods when they know they have their work cut out for them. It is clear that this police department was actively monitoring social activity in the area; this post was identified as the ‘football thrower” fairly quickly. From there, the police were able to determine who this might be, and worked with that man’s local police department to further identify him.

As you seen in the video above, they used social media in their own way to let the young man know there was a warrant out for his arrest. At the end of the video it says: “Hey Kameron, We found you. Great arm. Bad decision. An arrest warrant has been issued for you. You can turn yourself in at the Gulf Shores Police Department.”

Police have a wealth of information available to them through social media, and it is reported that up to 80% of police departments will use social media information in their work. It’s proving to server as an extremely useful tool, and its use will likely become commonplace among police departments worldwide.