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Cops embrace social media as crime-fighting tool
By Romila Boodram
We all leave small clues about our lives all over the internet like fingerprints.
Take Kevin Fields for instance, the 21-year-old gunman who was shot dead during a botched robbery on July 14, 2014 at Ramchand’s Auto Spares on Sheriff and D’Urban Streets.
The Agricola, East Bank Demerara (EBD) resident had posted public photos on Facebook that showed him flashing ‘gangsta signs’, guns and ammunition and even large wads of cash.
In one photograph, Fields’ face tied with a handkerchief, held a gun to another man’s head.
The person in the photograph was on his knee with his mouth gagged and hands and feet bound.
There were also incriminating posts, including references to past violent crimes and threats against others.
As a result of this post, the Guyana Police Force subsequently introduced their Facebook page which has garnered over 2000 followers in less than a year.
Photo taken from Field’s Facebook page, shows him splurging large sums of money
Commander of ‘A’ Division, Clifton Hicken
Since then, the Force has been using the social media site to monitor the profiles of various persons, to showcase their work (outreach programmes) and also to associate with the members of the public.
However, in a recent interview, Commander of ‘A’ Division, Clifton Hicken said that he believes that the Force’s social media site is not being utilized as it should be.
He is therefore calling on the public to take advantage of the site.
“Members can give information on Facebook. We not only use it to monitor but to do association,” the Divisional Commander said.
With reference to the smashing of a terror gang in Craig, East Bank Demerara (EBD) last month, Hicken said that, “We had a recent collaboration with CID Headquarters and they were able to put a dent in the notorious gang.”
He further explained that by using Facebook, they could have accessed the gang members’ profile to see who they were associated with.
“If you look at their Facebook, you can see who they are linked to and this can assist the police in their investigation.”
Kaieteur News understands that when the video of a man attacking Carmen Ganesh started to circulate on social media, users began comparing the killer’s image with individuals that they knew.
A snapshot of the Guyana Police Force’s Facebook profile
Due to these Facebook comparisons, several persons who shared similar identity to that of the suspected killer were called in for questioning. A suspect was eventually caught and charged with murder.
Not only is the Force using Facebook to combat criminal activity, but police are also using the site to inform the public about what they are doing in various communities.
This newspaper was told that it was the Commissioner of Police, Seelall Persaud’s initiative for the Force to tap into social media.
“What he (Commissioner Persaud) noticed too is that the work we were doing in Albouystown (Impact Albouystown Project) wasn’t reaching members of the public, so he felt it was necessary to do a website,” Hicken said.
The public is once again being urged to utilize the social media site.
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