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Social Media Surveillance
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Law enforcement agencies are leveraging the power of social media to detect and prevent crime, while at the same effortlessly collecting data on current and past cases. The effectiveness of the method has led to an increase in social media surveillance by different enforcement agencies. Currently, some ways have been enacted to monitor persons considered threats on social media. Use of software such as BEWARE and geofeedia has enabled the police to scrutinize persons considered threats and eased crime detection and prevention techniques (Skorup, 2014). Similarly, threat scores have been used to measure personified threat levels of different individuals thus providing real-time data to police officers. Twitter Alerts have also come in handy in busting criminals. Moreover, the creation of fake accounts especially on Facebook has allowed police officers to measure user sentiments, undertake sting operations, identifying witnesses, managing capricious events and geo-tracking.
The detection and monitoring techniques on social media accounts demonstrate mixed results. The tools have helped detect unreported crimes and enforce arrests, especially in marginalized communities. Similarly, police officers have used the apparatuses to prevent criminal activities, especially with the rise of gun violence in the USA. Notably, different police departments have recorded massive success in foiling gun threats by lawbreakers in the USA. Moreover, social media surveillance has helped law enforcement agencies to track criminals, identify possible witnesses and foil criminal activities.

However, the use of social media monitoring has led to the wrongful conviction of innocent persons, particularly based on the relationship between the victim and criminal groups.
GEOCOP (Geospatial Common Operating Picture) monitors social media activities by different people and provides data on suspect criminal activities. The company informed of a threat made by a student (Elgawly) to a Brooklyn college, notifying the school of an imminent attack. The police arrested the student after the officers recognized that the student had posted threatening posts against the school. Employment of threat scores is the best strategy to counter threats on social media. The aggregate scores measure different threat sentiments or alerts on the individual, allowing the police department to make informed decisions.
References
Skorup, B. (2014). Cops scan social media to help assess your ‘threat rating’. Reuters. Retrieved 6 April 2018, from http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2014/12/12/police-data-mining-looks-through-social-media-assigns-you-a-threat-level/