Social Networking Sites: Sgt John

Gang Signs Dept: It took a few keystrokes for Prince George s County, Md., officers to find their man s user profile, where they had expected to see his usual rantings about police and coded tidbits about his chosen trade. But what they discovered was even more helpful: That very morning, the fugitive had posted a photograph of himself wearing what one officer described as a very distinctive purple and teal shirt, according to The Star. The arrest of the alleged dealer highlights the increasing use of Facebook and other such social networking sites by street and drug gangs to broadcast messages, boast of successes and recruit new members, according to local and federal authorities. The sites offer a never-ending panoply of gang members comments about drug dealing, weapons and violence, as well as photographs of gang tatoos and of members flashing gang signs and standing under gang-related graffiti an intelligence boon for law enforcement and for weeks, police came up empty in their search for a gang member charged with distributing the drug ecstasy until they turned to Facebook. A few hours later, a photo of the suspect in hand, officers spotted the alleged dealer on the street. We picked him out right away, said Sgt. John O Donnell of the Prince George s gang unit. You couldn t have missed him. He knew we were looking for him. But he couldn t help himself from updating Facebook. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.