MySpace: A New Crime Fighting Tool

If you are a MYSPACE user or another site like this beware. Police have adapted with the changing times. They are using this new technology to fight crime. It is a new way to catch stupid criminals. Criminal's who are dump enough to post video's of their crimes on these sites to brag to their friend are now bragging to the police as well.

The Sheriff department of Pike county, Kentucky has taken to using MYSPACE and other websites like it to fight crime, catching criminals video taping their crimes. Sgt. Mike Crawford of the Ashland Police Department says that the evolving technology has changes how they investigate crimes, with criminals using websites like MYSPACE and YOUTUBE they can catch the criminal in the act.Crawford says the evidence they have been able to obtain on-line has proved invaluable in their investigations and that the evidence holds up in court too. Crawford says that while this is invaluable to police they also need to understand the technology so that they can utilize it in their investigations.

Once such cases has recently occurred in Pike County, Kentucky where the Sheriff Department had been investigating a case of vandalism and burglary. They case was going nowhere when the sheriff's department received an interesting tip, the crime had been video taped and was posted on MYSPACE. This tip lead to the arrest of six individuals 4 of which were teenager. Nic Newsome of Crum, West Virginia, Kayla Rose, Ashley Butcher, Jessica May , Danielle Paolo and Tina Evans, from Belfry, Kentucky, were arrested after police discovered that they had video taped and posted it to the MYSPACE website themselves.

It seems that it has become a new trend for teenagers to pull what they call "Pranks", video taping them and then posting them to their MYSPACE accounts to brag to their friends. All six individuals in the Kentucky burglary were charged with burglary and criminal mischief. Since Police have removed the video from MYSPACE.

(www.wsaz.com)