Sheriff: `Facebook helps us catch more wanted people than any other source’

17102037-smallTUPELO, Mississippi (AP) — Be careful what you post on Facebook — your local law enforcement might be watching.

“Right now, Facebook helps us catch more wanted people than any other source,” said Lee County Sheriff Jim Johnson. “Our Facebook site gets more than 10,000 hits a day.

“Good or bad — it’s a fact that people read Facebook.”

More and more law enforcement agencies are using social media, especially Facebook and Twitter, to spread the word about recent arrests, traffic delays or crime patterns.

For the Tupelo Police Department, simple warnings about residential burglaries generate the most Facebook reaches — a matrix that combines forwards, comments and likes.

“When we put up a couple of paragraphs to tell people on certain streets about recent burglaries in the neighborhood, the numbers go out the roof,” said Tupelo Police Capt. Chuck McDougald. “When we post a ‘Lock up and Look out,’ it’s not unusual to have 15,000 reaches.”

Police are starting to use that contact with the public to their advantage.

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office recently started posting their most wanted criminals on Facebook and Johnson said the response has been amazing.

“We’ve had a Facebook page for a couple of years, and at first we just used it as a resource to get out information about arrests or upcoming events,” said Johnson. “But when we started posting wanted people on there, it really took off.”

On a regular basis, the sheriff’s office page will post a series of mugshots, listing the person’s name, what he or she is wanted for and ask page followers if they have seen the person. Some people will call the jail.

Others will post information in the comment field letting investigators know where the suspect may be living. Some send their information as a message, so it is not seen by the general public. Others get more personal.

“I get more tips through my personal Facebook page than anything,” said Johnson. “Here’s a message I got the other day. ‘We saw this girl on your Facebook post. We know where she’s at.’ And they go on to tell me an address and even give me a phone number.”

While people still call the sheriff’s office directly with tips or use the anonymous tip line Crime Stoppers, more and more information is flowing in via the computer and in particular Facebook. Someone can post a tip anytime of the day or night and hide behind the perceived anonymity.

“People will say things on the computer that they won’t say on the phone talking to a live person,” said Johnson. “And it gives us a way to interact with people who have information. If someone calls in an anonymous tip, you don’t get that interaction.”

And it is not just tips that come in because of Facebook; sometimes it is the criminal himself.

“We had a guy last week who saw his picture on our Facebook page and turned himself in,” said Johnson.

Social media is also an excellent way to get the latest information out to the public. Throughout the day Friday, law enforcement used Facebook and Twitter to send out updated road conditions to warn motorists of icy conditions.

Tupelo police used Facebook last month when emergency personnel responding to a fire in the mall area created serious traffic problems.