My six-year-old son wants to play Wild West. “I’ll be the outlaw,” he tells me. I make a poster that says, “Wanted: Dead or Alive.” I hang it by a magnet on the refrigerator. “Seriously, Mom? The fridge?” my child says. “A real sheriff would post it on Facebook.” As it turns out, my kindergartener is absolutely right.
Law enforcement tools have evolved significantly over the years from wanted posters and milk cartons to police radios and now social media platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. Police departments also use social media to find missing children, as well as alert communities about suspicious activities and crimes recently committed in their area. [Read more…]