Police find clues on MySpace

Police have been using MySpace.com to help them fight crime.

A Newsweek article published today reports: “A growing number of ordinary officers are working a new beat, turning to MySpace -- an online network of individuals linked through personalized home pages -- to collect clues and crack offline cases. Communication between cops and the two-year-old company has surged this year, with MySpace now contributing to about 150 investigations a month”

Last week investigators in Patterson arrested two teens on suspicion of burglary, vandalism and possession of stolen property after being led to the suspects when one of them logged onto his MySpace.com Web site from the crime scene.

Also last week, police in Riverton, Kan., arrested five teenage boys accused of plotting a shooting rampage at their high school on the anniversary of the Columbine massacre after a message authorities said warned of a gun attack appeared on a MySpace.com Web site.

Local police are using MySpace to track down parties in an effort to curb under-age drinking, said a colleague of mine, whose daughter was at a party when the police busted it up.

Children and teenagers are one of the fastest growing groups of Internet users. By 2005, 77 million children and teens were expected to be online, according to the Youth Internet Safety Survey.

My mom, as she was reading one of these stories in the paper on Saturday, said to me, “There are some scary stories about this MySpace.”

But I think it’s a clever tool for law enforcement to use. Wouldn’t it be scarier if the Columbine-style rampage hadn’t been thwarted before it happened?