To head off unruly crowd sentiment over social media and to detect advance possible mass gatherings before it descends on the city soil, Mumbai Police have set up a social media monitoring facility [Indian Express report here]. First of its kind in India from a law enforcement unit, “The Social Media Lab” will monitor Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and other prominent social media platforms to measure changes in mass moods and track matters concerning public law and order. 20 specially trained police officers will keep a vigil on widely discussed and trending topics and try to tie social media and criminality together.
Trending worldwide
Worldwide, law and enforcement authorities are waking up to the anti-social surprises social media have been unveiling in recent times. Last year, during London Olympics, Scotland and Wales police trailed software to predict where and when crime and social disorder may take place, reported The Herald. In August, 2011, the NY Daily News reported that the NYPD have started to “mine” social media for information about “troublesome house parties, gang showdowns and other potential mayhem.”
Recently, a blog post in official FBI.gov blog has urged local police to monitor social media for leads on criminal activity. The writer who is a a retired major with the Montgomery, Alabama, Police Department and now acting as the assistant chief agent at the Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center has asked the local law enforcement officers to use Internet as a predictive tool for everything from “apprehend fugitives, single out associate suspects, link individuals to street gangs, and provide evidence of criminal activity.”
For a better tomorrow
By monitoring of social media and analytics, a city, state or government can make more informed decisions from better insights. Some decisions can be predicative; some could be based upon analyzing public sentiment during, post or pre-event. With the right tools and resource, sudden events like earthquake, terrorist attacks, tornadoes, flooding, wildfire, shootings or bombings can be dealt with proper responsive actions.
Cost savings & better resource deployment
A comprehensive monitoring campaign can provide deep insights about where the crowd is located, their movement, communication content, influencers’ whereabouts without deploying manpower or logistics. A location centric trend can help mobilize resource as per requirement.
Good Reads
Engage: Digital and Social Media Engagement for the Police Service from National Policing Improvement Agency, UK: This document aims to help police officers and staff to engage with their communities through the use of technology. It has been written with a purpose to make them aware of the new engagement technologies that exist in digital era with case studies from United Kingdom forces. For all curious minds who live and breathe social media, it’s a must read guide (and a best practice example) to know how law and enforcement is looking at social media to form a barrier between criminals and society. Click to read.
Using Social Media to Prevent Gang Violence and Engage Youth from Northeastern University: Technological boom during this past generation has completely changed the way youths consume information. This report cites a Nielsen study finding which says, “57% of young people rely on social networks as a key source of information and advice.” An insightful report from the Northeastern University on how social media monitoring services can serve as a catalyst of gang and youth violence prevention strategies. Click to read.
Image courtesy: ivanpw
