How to Find Someone in Prison

Before you start your search for someone in prison it is important to know some important terms.

Prison – also known as a penitentiary or correctional facility, is a place in which individuals are physically confined and are deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Individuals held within prisons and corrections facilities have been either charged with a crime or convicted of a crime. Individuals who have been charged with a crime are incarcerated until they are brought to trial or released. Those who are officially charged with a crime will remain in a prison or jail facility until they completed the duration of their sentence.

Inmate – a person confined to an institution such as a prison (as a convict) or hospital (as a patient).

Corrections – refers to the supervision of persons arrested for, convicted of, or sentenced for criminal offenses.

How Do You Find Someone in Prison?

1) Try using the website Vine. VINE is a website that lets victims of crime and other concerned citizens access information about offenders. The service is available via the website, a mobile app, and a toll-free number. Victims can register to receive alerts about inmate status changes via phone, email, and text.
To find an offender, click on the “Find an Offender” icon and select the appropriate state. From the next page, enter the incarcerated person’s last name and first name. Alternatively, you can enter their inmate ID number, if you have it. In addition, you can click on the “Advanced Search” link to add other search parameters such as Facility Name, Date of Birth and Age Range.

2) Another option is CheckPeople.com. This website makes it fast, easy, and effective to perform an advanced people search. You can track down old friends, relatives, or classmates. All you need is the person’s first and last name but you can narrow down the search if you know what state they are in. Search results will reveal detailed information including criminal records, civil records, marriage license(s), and more.

How to Find an Inmate in a Federal Prison

To find someone in a federal prison, use the Federal inmate locator. This search tool allows you to search a database of federal inmates who were incarcerated from 1982 to present. Once you find the individual, you can use the Federal prison facility locator to learn more about the specific facility where they are being held. This search provides the details on such things as the type of prison and the security (e.g. minimum security, maximum security, etc.).
You can lookup inmates two different ways:

1) First and last name (required) and middle name, age, race, sex (optional)

2) Inmate number from the: Bureau of Prisons (BOP) Register, D.C. Department of Corrections (DCDC), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), or Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS)

How to Check an Inmate’s Background

If you need to learn more about someone who is incarcerated, a BeenVerified Background Check Report allows you to search billions of public records online in just a few seconds. You can search for criminal records, arrest records, bankruptcies and more. In addition, you can find people using address, phone number and email search. BeenVerified offers an easy and affordable way to run a background check.

Federal Prison Records 1982 – Present

The Bureau of Prisons (BOP) maintains records of federal prisoners released after 1982. You can use the Inmate Locator to find out when a prisoner was, or is expected to be, released. To learn more about an inmate, submit a Freedom of Information Act request to the BOP. Also include a completed Form DOJ-361 (PDF, Download Adobe Reader).
The BOP Library provides a wealth of resources on corrections, criminology, and related fields.
State and Local Prison Records
For state and local prison records, contact the state or local corrections department.
Prison and Prisoner Resources
Following are resources for prisons, correctional institutions, jails, and inmate searches.
• Amnesty International – Amnesty international is a global network of human rights activists who campaign to end abuses of human rights. Their website provides resources, news, and data on human rights abuses around the world.
• Corrections Connection Network – Provides news, data and vendor intelligence for the corrections community. Provides resources, tools and forums for corrections professionals. Also a great place to stay in touch with the latest news about what is going on within the system. Includes links to inmate locate queries for each state.
• PrisonMap.com – PrisonMap.com shows aerial photos of prisons in the United States.
• Prison Policy Initiative – Attempts to document the impact of mass incarceration on individuals and communities in an attempt to improve the criminal justice system. The organization produces cutting edge research to expose harm created by mass incarceration and then sponsors advocacy campaigns to create awareness about the issues.

About Us:
We have been mining social media since 2007 for our clients. By utilizing best in class software programs, we offer a service called eChatter.
eChatter works with you to obtain your objectives in a fast, accurate and reliable facet. By keeping our strengthened principals, yet evolving with this industry, we lead in social media monitoring. Since 2007, we have been dedicated to providing our customers with the most authentic data.

We offer:
• Deep Web Scans
• Jury Vetting
• Jury Monitoring
• Quick Scan

www.e-chatter.net
(866) 703-8238

Think Your Data Is Private Because You’re Not on Social Media? Think Again.

Just because you’re not on Facebook or Twitter doesn’t mean your data is safe from social media or their clever algorithms. In two different studies, researchers found evidence that your privacy is no longer in your hands, even if you abstain from social media.

The studies, conducted at the University of Vermont and the University of Adelaide, found that they could predict a person’s posts on social media with 95% accuracy, even if they never had an account to begin with. The scientists got all the information they needed from a person’s friends, using posts from fewer than 10 contacts to build a mirror image of a person not even on the social network.

The study, published Monday in the journal Nature Human Behavior, looked at more than 30 million public posts on Twitter (excluding retweets) from a total of 13,905 English-language users (attempting to eliminate bots and non-personal accounts) to populate their model. By using data provided by just 8 or 9 of a user’s contacts, the researchers were able to show that the tweets of friends allowed them to predict quite a bit about the original user. The original user’s Tweets allowed them to predict future tweets with an accuracy rate of roughly 64% and the user’s contacts gave them enough data to predict behavior with an accuracy rate of 61%. So, go ahead and delete your account, but information about you is still going to be generated (and pretty accurately) if you have a close relationship with at least 8 people who use the platform.

This analysis showed that “information within the Twitter messages from 8 or 9 of a person’s contacts make it possible to predict that person’s later tweets as accurately as if they were looking directly at that person’s own Twitter feed.”

“You alone don’t control your privacy on social media platforms,” University of Vermont professor Jim Bagrow said in a statement. “Your friends have a say too.” And even when you delete your social media accounts, if your friends are still there, tech giants are able to build profiles on you. This is already a concern that privacy advocates have about Facebook, called “shadow profiles.”

Now, there is a mathematical upper limit on how much predictive information a social network can hold. They can’t know everything about you, but they can know some things.

So why is this information important? Businesses who want to sell you things or government agencies who want information about you can use this information to their benefit. Companies or agencies may not be able to find out your darkest secrets, but they can figure out things like your political or religious affiliation and products you might be interested in. The same things platforms like Facebook and Twitter know (and sell) about their users.

The researchers went on to acknowledge that their research “raises profound questions about the fundamental nature of privacy—and how, in a highly networked society, a person’s choices and identity are embedded in that network.”

“There’s no place to hide in a social network,” said
co-author Lewis Mitchell.

Professor James Bagrow, also an author of the paper, confirmed: You alone don’t control your privacy on social media platforms. Your friends have a say too.

In April, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told lawmakers that the social network collected data on nonusers for “security purposes.” That includes people’s contact list when they use Facebook’s mobile app, which the company uses to suggest friend recommendations, it explained.

In response to the study, a Facebook spokeswoman said the company doesn’t build profiles on nonusers, even if it’s collecting data on them. “If you aren’t a Facebook user, we can’t identify you based on this information, or use it to learn who you are,” the company said in a statement.

The study shows there’s only so much you can control in terms of your own privacy and security online. As careful as you are online, the study suggests that you’re only as private as your friends have been.

Tools and Recommendations for Social Media Investigations

Think social media is just for catching up with friends, sharing recipes, and watching funny videos? Think again! Using the social web has become an integral part of work for investigators. So much information is shared with smartphones and social media that it’s absolutely impossible to ignore. And the amount of data is growing every day. We’ve compiled a list of tools that can help with the process.

Reverse Image Search

Google’s reverse image search allows you to scour the Internet for any instances in which a particular photo (or similar photo) has been posted on Facebook, Instagram, blogs or anywhere else on the Internet. Cool huh?!?

While it’s not perfect, it can be an incredibly powerful tool if you are trying to find social profiles of individuals or websites in the deep dark web. This can benefit investigators because most people don’t bother changing the profile picture for the various social networks they use, often using the same exact photo and posting the exact same pictures.

Knowem

Do you know that not everyone uses his or her real name on the Internet? Shocking I know! While the person you are searching for may go by James Rogers in real life, he may go by MrFalcon001 on the Internet. While this makes people more difficult to track down, one thing we have going for us is that people are creatures of habit. Once they’ve got a username, they usually stick with it. So if a person is MrFalcon001 on Instagram, there is a good chance that he is MrFalcon001 on many other sites as well.

That’s where Knowem comes in. With Knowem, you can search over 500 popular social networks to see whether that particular name has been taken.

Instagram Search

With more than 200 million active users, Instagram is a phenomenal (and growing) source for investigators. But since Instagram was built as a mobile platform, it doesn’t have a very good “desktop” version to search with. Drum roll…Instagram for Chrome. On your desktop you can search hashtags, GPS tags and user tags in order to develop a full picture of close confidants and groups of individuals who were a regular part of the target individual’s entourage.

Get Involved with Social Media

The best way to know how social media works is to actually use it. Learn how people interact, get attention, post, like/heart/retweet, friend, etc. It’s amazing the amount of information you will uncover.

How Law Enforcement Uses Social Media

Through trial and error, local law enforcement agencies are now using social media as a communication tool to build public trust and catch criminals. Online, officers can ask communities to assist in investigations, relay information to the public during crises and praise themselves and others in jobs well done.

In Alachua County and its surrounding counties, small and large law enforcement agencies alike often have at least a Facebook page, if not several accounts, to communicate with the public.

Lauri Stevens, founder of LAwS Communications, advises law enforcement agencies on how to use social media to their benefit. “Social media is a police tool, just like a Taser or any other tool that they have,” Stevens said.

In a 2016 survey of law enforcement’s use of social media, the Urban Institute found that 91% of agencies used social media to inform people of public safety concerns, and 89% used it for community outreach and engagement.

What are the Risks?

KiDeuk Kim, senior research associate at the Urban Institute, said using social media has its liabilities, including posting inaccurate information, failing to update posted information and unnecessarily revealing the identities of victims.

In June a former Alachua County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer posted a picture of a 3-year-old girl whose father left her in a car when he fled police. The picture shows the girl holding a plush dog with a deputy sitting behind her. The girl’s mother commented on Facebook, “This is my daughter and I thank the ASO for taking care of her until I arrived.”

While the photo was able to highlight the work of deputies on the scene, it could have gone terribly wrong. A parent or guardian should be notified before a posting featuring their child is published due to the child being too young to give consent.

How to Connect with Residents

Officer Ben Tobias, Public Information Officer for the Gainesville Police Department commented, “People don’t want to hear, ‘The police say this, and the police say this’. They want to know that their police department and their police officers are human beings as well, with feelings and emotions.”

On Twitter, public information officers use a lighter approach when it comes to posts. Mugshots are shared with hashtags like #GlamourShot and #DontPassGo.

Chris Sims, a former Alachua County Sheriff’s Office public information officer, said the agency hasn’t received complaints from suspects or other citizens about their poking fun, and he added that it helps draw people in to further connect with the agency.

“It may not be the story that triggers that response from the citizen, but they see the funny hashtag and they kind of giggle at it or go, ‘Oh, look, they’re with the times,’ or what have you, and all of a sudden they read our story,” Sims said.

Social Media Monitoring

In Overland Park, Kansas gunman Matthew Riehl opened fire on deputies in Colorado as they came to his home, filming the whole thing on Periscope. He killed one deputy and wounded four others. He also shot two civilians. NBC News reported Riehl had previously posted anti-law enforcement videos, including one where he was running for sheriff.

Overland Park police said if people make threats against police on social media they look into it, especially if a specific officer is referenced. If videos with anti-law enforcement messages are posted, they make nearby departments aware.

Officer John Lacey, with Overland Park Police said, “If someone is saying things about police departments, ‘I want to shoot a cop, I want to do bodily harm.’ I usually get that information and transfer it to our detective division and let them take a look at it.” Lacey monitors the Overland Park Police social media accounts and said they focus on being moderate, transparent and approachable.

Lacey and four or five detectives use social media in investigations as well. They are looking at people who are trying to solicit children, things of that sort,” said Lacey. Last month, Lacey said tips came in as posts when Mikayla Norris disappeared from the Jack Stack at 95th and Metcalf. The department posted her photo, vehicle description, its license tag plate and information came in on their Facebook timeline.

Next month, Lacey will also be teaching other departments across the state of Kansas how to use social media to their advantage.

About Us:

We have been mining social media since 2007 for our clients. By utilizing best in class software programs, we offer a service called eChatter.

eChatter works with you to obtain your objectives in a fast, accurate and reliable facet. By keeping our strengthened principals, yet evolving with this industry, we lead in social media monitoring. Since 2007, we have been dedicated to providing our customers with the most authentic data.

We offer:

· Deep Web Scans

· Jury Vetting

· Jury Monitoring

· Quick Scan

www.e-chatter.net

(866) 703-8238