Catching Up With Determined Men 2 - Why It's Called Dumb Crime

Excerpts from a Government Technology article.

Darren Bates thought he'd hit pay dirt when he wiggled his way out of the unfriendly confines of Hancock County Jail in Georgia last summer and fled to Philadelphia - away from imminent and unpleasant legal proceedings.

In Philadelphia, the escaped auto-theft convict enjoyed his newfound freedom by hanging out on MySpace, the social networking site, free from law enforcement - or so he thought.

Now Bates is back in Georgia facing multiple charges after police tracked him down via his MySpace page....

At Penn State University, campus police busted a party and cited underage drinkers after learning about the party on Facebook, another popular social Web site. The surprise visit didn't go over well with the students, but their public information is fair game. There's no reasonable expectation of privacy when posting on the Internet....

Detective Keith DePersia, of the Computer Crimes Unit in the Charlotte County, Fla.,...spends two to three hours every day on the Web as part of a strategy implemented this year. Online he investigates everything from child pornography to stolen merchandise to drugs. "Believe it or not, people will advertise that they have drugs, even on MySpace," he said.

myspace

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