NYPD sets up social media unit

Police in New York have formed a new social media unit to sniff out troublemakers by analyzing posts on online social networks including Facebook and Twitter. Newly named Assistant Commissioner Kevin O’Connor, one of the department’s online and gang gurus, is in charge of the new juvenile justice unit, the New York Daily News reported. O’Connor’s new unit will operate under the Community Affairs Bureau, and will also handle outreach programs, with its mandate going beyond the Net. The report cited sources who said the New York Police Department unit will mine social media, looking for information about troublesome house parties, gang showdowns and potential mayhem. It also cited the power of social media to empower both criminals and police as shown in the riots and looting in London this week. O’Connor, promoted to his new position from lieutenant, is known for his success in online policing, including stings to catch predator perverts looking for sex with underage victims. He was credited in a former assignment with a Manhattan North gang unit for providing key information in several shooting cases gleaned from online boasting. The New York Daily News said the NYPD has extensively used technology to solve several cases, including:

• The fatal beating of Anthony Collao, 18, in an anti-gay attack at a Woodhaven, Queens, house party advertised on Facebook last March. Calvin Pietri, one of six arrested, bragged about the murder on Facebook.
• A feud over a $20 loan for diapers played out on Facebook and ended with Kayla Henriques, 18, accused of stabbing to death her friend Kamisha Richards, 22, in East New York, Brooklyn last March.
• The fatal shooting of a man last May at a Queens junior high reunion that drew hundreds of unexpected revelers when word of the bash went viral on Twitter.