When a violent crime occurs and the police respond they begin to
establish a command post where they plan on where and how to conduct the
canvass for additional witnesses. There are many types of canvasses
that the police conduct and now we have one with a 21st century twist.
Properly conducted canvasses SHAVES hours off investigative time. Here
are the different types of canvasses investigators should deploy during a
major investigation:
Surveillance Camera Canvass
Hospital Canvass
Additional Witness Canvass
Vehicle Canvass
Evidence Canvass
Social Media Canvass
At the makeshift command post an investigative strategy takes place
with the supervisor and the investigators. They develop a plan on what
buildings to canvass first for additional witnesses. Generally, they
start with the building that faces the scene and spiral outwards from
there. However, before doing the traditional canvasses, investigators
have a new tool at their disposal, the Social Media Canvass.
The Social Media Canvass allows investigators to follow the
conversations about the incident via social media. A couple of clicks or
swipes and investigators are “listening to the chatter on the
electronic street.” The two most popular social media venues are Twitter
and Facebook. Twitter is a lot easier to work with because you don’t
need an account to start conducting searches.
For instance, the investigator arrives at the scene of a homicide on
Main Street in Anytown. They step over the yellow tape and into the hot
zone. Before the investigator whips out his/her’s reporter’s notebook
and starts knocking on doors, they’ll pull out the department issued
wireless tablet, laptop or smartphone and start searching. This is a
better strategy then deciding on what door to knock on. Within seconds
of an incident, people in the neighborhood, and sometimes those that are
involved, are tweeting or posting on Facebook.
Here is how a search could work. The investigator goes to the
Twitter.com search box and uses the hashtag (#) and types what they are
looking for. In this scenario, the shooting occurred on Main Street in
Anytown, so the separate searches would look something like this:
#MainStreet, #MainSt, #Anytown, #ShootingMainStreet or any other
combination. Based on the information they see, a better canvass
strategy can be developed. Recently while searching for information on a
past shooting incident, I found a Tweet that stated in sum and
substance, “the cops just showed up at “Bill’s” house be careful of what
you post.”
Catching conversations on Facebook is challenging because the
investigator needs an account to start searching. That account should be
an authorized department account, not their personal one. As easy it is
for law enforcement to track suspects, they can track us!
Since there are over 700 million users on Facebook there is a good
chance that your suspect has an account, especially if they are in the
young adult age range. Before signing onto Facebook with the
department’s password, the investigator should conduct a few general
searches to narrow the focus. Most, if not all investigators will go
straight to Google, but that is not the best search for Facebook.
Microsoft’s Bing is Facebook’s default search engine. Another free site
that provides an individual’s social media page information without
signing up for an account is http://pipl.com.
Once the page is discovered it maybe public, which means limited
information, such as a photo, street name, etc., can be viewed without
being friends. However, if the page is for friends only, look at the
lower left hand part of the screen. It often provides friends of the
target’s page. Click on the target’s friends because one of their sites
maybe public, which would allow the investigator to enter their world.
As the use of social media by police investigators increases in the
short term, there will be many court challenges regarding it’s use in
the future. It is important for investigators to follow the policies and
procedures set forth by their departments. Do not do anything that can
jeopardize your career, the case or your personal safety.
Joseph L. Giacalone is a 19 year NYPD Detective Sergeant with an
extensive background in criminal investigations. He has held many
prestigious positions, but his favorite was the Commanding Officer of
the Cold Case Homicide Squad. Joe obtained a Master of Arts Degree in
Criminal Justice with a Specialty in Crime and Deviance from John Jay
College of Criminal Justice in 2005. He has been an Adjunct Professor
at John Jay since January of 2006 and is the author of the Criminal
Investigative Function: A Guide for New Investigators, published by
Looseleaf Law. You can follow Joe on Twitter: @ColdCaseSquad or @JoeGiacalone or on the web at: coldcasesquad.com
