NYPD tells Scotland Yard to utilise social media to thwart gangs
New York police offers have said that Scotland Yard should look to evidence posted on social media platforms to aid attempts at curbing gang activity.
US police said that by searching through sites like Instagram and Facebook they have been able to track down and arrest gang members, thanks to evidence posted on the platforms, The Guardian reports.
Assistant commissioner Kevin O'Connor of the New York City Police Department (NYPD), who was quoted in the paper, said using social media has allowed them to break-down entire gang structures in Manhattan.
"It's getting easier and easier, not harder and harder [to obtain evidence]. All they've done is change venues from Facebook to Instagram. For instance, they post a picture standing in front of a rival's territory saying: 'Where you at?'"
Last week Manhattan district attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr and New York City Police Department commissioner William J. Bratton said in a statement that the arrests of 103 members of three violent street gangs was aided by the review of "more than a million" social media pages.