What is it that you see when you get on your social media? In this day and age, it’s COVID updates and lots of politics. But a majority of what’s on are recent crimes, as well as updates about criminal activity. The article “The Link Between Criminal Justice and Social Media” by Vista College, goes in depth on how the media has assisted the Criminal Justice System (CJS), as well as hurt the system. Studies throughout the article back up multiple effects that the media has on the CJS. I read this article to see how it helps and hurts the Criminal Justice System while including my own outlook on how it may help and hurt.
Media and Crime
Media itself spans all over the globe, meaning that almost anything reported can be at our fingertips in a second. This is, says Vista College, something that is both good and bad. There are certain people who get on these media platforms to do harm. However, there are some people who use social media for good like police officers. According to the article, the Brennan Center for Justice did a study that found ninety-six point four percent of law enforcement agencies use social media somehow to protect the public, way more than I imagined them ever using it. I know people that have come home after staying in another state for a week, with their house in shambles from a burglary. If the police started using media to check in on people, it could be incredibly helpful by preventing crime before it happens.
The Media and CJS Working Together
As discussed by the authors, almost ninety-seven percent of law enforcement agencies use social media to help prevent crime. Social media such as Instagram, may have details regarding where criminals live, and work. This is how Deputy Bill Levens was able to track and arrest a wanted felon in Florida. He used his “undercover Instagram account“, to watch a live video in his area, and shone a light on the felons window, viewable on stream. This was super helpful for him, as they caught him off guard and were able to arrest him before he got to one of three unregistered firearms in the house. This is unbelievably smart. Not only did his method of finding the felon work but I imagine he saved his own life by catching him off guard. Using accounts is also a smart way to find a person on websites like my own. They tend to have similar information that he used on the felon.
The Instagram live video being used by the Deputy. This footage was later uploaded on another famous media platform (YouTube).
Networks can also retrieve deleted information and give it to officers to aid them in their investigations. Facebook Transparency shows that from July to December of 2019, roughly fifty-one thousand Facebook requests from law enforcement agencies were done. The results show that eighty-eight percent of those requests showed data that helped them with their investigations. Requesting with an eighty-eight percent chance of wielding some kind of evidence I could use in a case seems like a pretty good deal to me, especially if this kind of evidence is absolutely condemning the offender. In my opinion, this could be one of the best things to use in the field of cybercrimes.
How the Media Hurts the CJS
These methods have drawbacks. Before anyone can be tried on information from a deleted social media account, the law and Vista College say that the police must prove that the account belonged to the offender without a doubt. There is the other fact that new rules have been set in place during court cases, as lawyers are forbidden from “using legal aides to contact opposing litigants via Facebook”. That rule has been extended to all social media. This means that they cannot discuss the case over any social media platforms. These rules, to me, sound like they should be common sense though. One of the main rules in a court case is to not talk about the case to anyone outside of it. If I couldn’t talk face to face about a case to a person if I was a juror, or talk to an opposing lawyer if I were a lawyer, why would I consider doing it over a media platform?
The CJS and the Media were always fighting in my mind. It always seemed like the Media portrayed the system as corrupt and unjust, and I still feel that it does that today. After reading this, I can see that social media and the CJS seem to work hand in hand. My original thoughts could definitely be wrong. The new advantages the article explained to me, like being able to find a wanted felon in real time, are potentially invaluable to police officers. While at the same time the court requiring proof, kind of dissipates the hope of these advantages working well enough for them to become widespread. Overall, I can see this relation evolving in the future as technology progresses and hopefully someday, we will see when the relation between the two is always on good terms.
This is a very well-written blog that explores the pros and cons of social media being used and monitored by the Criminal Justice System.
I found it interesting that 96.4% of law enforcement agencies use social media to protect the public. This is an amazing thing to do since, a lot of times, there are big clues on social media before a crime is committed. By watching social media, a lot of things could be prevented or stopped.
When reading your blog, I thought of the story of the “Golden State Killer.” In April 2018, Police uploaded DNA from a crime scene onto the website “GEDmatch.” This led to a match. This is an excellent example of how police can use media for good.
From your blog, it is evident that this is a topic that you are passionate about. I think that you will be amazing in your future career!
I enjoyed reading about how the relationship between the criminal justice system and media has pros and cons. It was interesting to see just how complicated the relationship is as well. While on social media, I mainly see things about the bad things about the criminal justice system. When informed citizens speak up on the issues that concern them, there is reform. Since you are a criminal justice major, learning these strategies early on will hopefully benefit you in your career.