NCJ Number
216486
Journal
Law Enforcement Technology Volume: 33 Issue: 11 Dated: November 2006 Pages: 10,12-14,16,19
Date Published
November 2006
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This article discusses how law enforcement agencies can detect crimes and gain evidence for investigations by participating in popular teen Web sites, such as MySpace.
Abstract
The majority of teens use MySpace as intended, i.e., as a means of socializing and communicating among teens about problems, issues, experiences, and interests. Law enforcement officers should monitor MySpace and other teen sites in order to detect those teens and adults who post images of illegal drug use, information on criminal activities, and attempts to commit illegal sexual acts. A detective with the Naperville Police Department (Illinois) reports that his department encounters one to two cases a week from MySpace leads. This detective has three MySpace accounts: one as an officer, another as a young girl, and a third as a teenage boy. If predators want to connect with his boy or girl character, he lets the suspect take the lead in attempting to manipulate the interaction. In one cases, the predator solicited the "teen girl's" nude picture to "help" her land a modeling contract. This was followed by additional sexual solicitations. The predator, a registered sex offender, was eventually arrested with the help of the FBI. This article offers suggestions for developing an online identity that is likely to attract predators. Suggestions include showing vulnerability in the online persona, such as having an abusive father or inattentive parents; expressing indications of loneliness and having few friends; showing interest in alcohol or drugs; and using age-appropriate words and grammar. Other popular teen sites mentioned for monitoring are TeenSpot, Xanga, and FaceBook.