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UK Police To Get Facebook Lessons

Posted by samzenpus on from the learn-to-farmville-better dept.

jhernik writes "The police are to receive training on how to use Facebook and Twitter to catch people committing serious crimes. The National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) will overhaul its training modules to include sessions on the social networking sites for detectives. 'This programme is a vital part of the career pathway for detectives and the new training covers sensitive areas of policing where limited guidance existed previously,' said deputy chief constable Nick Gargan, acting head of the NPIA, in a statement to the Press Association. 'These improvements are exactly what detectives need to tackle the challenges and complexities of modern policing effectively,' he added. 'The changes underline the importance to having a national agency to provide guidance and train detectives to a single high standard so they can work on investigations in any part of the country and give their colleagues and the public the best quality service in fighting crime.'"

5 of 63 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Discretion by Mashiki · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Police catch people, because people are dumb. It's not going to change.

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  2. A picture doesn't prove anything... by moxley · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Unless it's clearly child porn -

    But it's total bullshit if any cops anywhere think they can arrest people for looking drunk, or being seen in a photo with a bottle of booze even if they're underage - or a photo of someone smoking something out of a bong or pipe - there is no way they could prove what the substance was, and while I am not sure about the UK, in the US our legal system hasn't eroded to that point yet, I am sure it probably will as we continue our descent into fascism and away from the rule of law.

    it's bad enough that people think that the system works how it oes on TV and it's a hell of a rude awakening when you find out just how ridiculously fucked up it really is as it stands now.

    1. Re:A picture doesn't prove anything... by Shimbo · · Score: 4, Insightful

      There's more to being a detective than finding evidence that would be admissible in court. Social networking is likely a good place to find useful leads, or might be solid enough to obtain a search warrant.

  3. Re:Right... by Hatta · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The age of consent is 16 in many places in the US too. It's still illegal to take explicit pictures of anyone under 18. Fuck her all you want, but take a picture and you're going to jail.

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  4. Re:Are They Really That Stupid by MichaelSmith · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Maybe its more like How to use FB without destroying your case or How to use the special police interfaces into FB.

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