The New York City Police Department and Kings County District Attorney announced this week they took down 41 members of a Bushwick, Brooklyn, gang — and social media helped them do it. New York City Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said, “Once again we have young gang members using social media to boast about murder and mayhem, and once again we have New York City Police officers ‘friending’ them to help end the violence. When young men plot to take their battles from tweets to the streets, the NYPD wants to be there to stop the bloodshed. The attention is paying off.” Detectives involved in the operation created fake profiles on Facebook and “friended” members of the TBO (True Bosses Only a.k.a. Team Bang Out) Gang, then tracked their actions on the social networking site.
About Shelly Palmer
Shelly Palmer is the Professor of Advanced Media in Residence at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and CEO of The Palmer Group, a consulting practice that helps Fortune 500 companies with AI strategy, implementation and governance, as well as technology, media and marketing. Named one of LinkedIn’s Top Voices in Technology, he is a bestselling author, covers tech and business for Fox 5’s Good Day New York, is a regular commentator on CNN, and writes the popular daily business blog Think About This. Follow @shellypalmer or visit shellypalmer.com.