The Philadelphia Police Department are crediting social media as a useful crime fighting tool.
On October 1, police say a man was captured on surveillance video committing an armed robbery in South Philadelphia.
A few days later, police say they received an anonymous tip identifying Erik Barrett as the man in the video after they posted it on YouTube. Barrett was arrested and taken into custody.
In a statement released on Wednesday, police thanked the public’s help and announced that Barrett was the 100th person they've arrested through social media.
From the Department:
The Philadelphia Police Department has become a model for others in law enforcement by using YouTube, Facebook and Twitter to leverage the strong support of our citizens. We have worked diligently over the past two years with our partners in the Philadelphia Field Office of the FBI to train our detectives on how to retrieve surveillance video. Through this Digital Imaging Video Recovery Team (DIVRT) effort, our investigators have the ability to utilize PhillyPolice.com and our social platforms to solve crime. The raw data is staggering:
- 100 criminals arrested
- 39% chance of arrest*
- 47,000 Facebook likes
- 11,000 Twitter followers
- 2.3 million Youtube views
We have realized positive results but the job is far from complete. We urge every person who lives and works in our great city to take an active role in fighting crime by being part of our social media community. Follow us on Twitter, click ‘Like’ on our Facebook page, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and stand up to crime in our neighborhoods. Together we can get these criminals off of our streets and behind bars using the tools of the 21st Century. * when a crime video is disseminated through social media
