http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/293477/
Fargo Forum Published October 03 2010
Facebook sting sign of cases to come
Sgt. Mat Sanders, head of Fargo’s narcotics unit, opened an account on Facebook under the name of Terra Vistad and invited several people in the area to be his friend. He alleges that in chats from Aug. 2 to Sept. 22, Felch agreed to pay up to $1,350 for a quarter-pound of pot, the cash due after he sold the drugs.
The police report claims after he was arrested in the park, Felch told Sanders he had met Vistad at a party before talking with her online. “I informed him that I was Terra Vistad,” Sanders said in the report.
Felch’s attorney, Mark Beauchene, didn’t return phone messages seeking comment.
Sanders didn’t return a message inquiring if other cases might spring from his Vistad profile, which doesn’t appear in a search of Facebook profiles.
Claus, who supervises all Fargo investigators, said Sanders took the idea to him for specific approval, and he signed off on it.
“These types of cases aren’t really any different than real-world cases, except they take place in cyberspace,” he said.
Claus said Facebook has been used by Fargo detectives to collect intelligence. He cited the manhunt for an Illinois murder suspect who left his car in Fargo in May as an example.
“By 9 or 10 o’clock, two intel detectives were online looking through his Facebook,” Claus said.
Police in West Fargo and Fargo also have Facebook pages, where they typically post safety messages, news about the departments and other items that are standard news release topics.
Stevens said she encourages police to be far more engaging online, such as using hash tags to interject messages into developing Twitter conversations.
“Very few of them are approaching it strategically,” she said.
She also thinks departments should have specific social-media policies: one for communications and another for investigations.
Claus said Fargo police have discussed establishing a social-media policy for communications, but not for investigations.
While some might object to undercover online operations, courts have ruled on a consistent basis that they’re legal as long as the officer doesn’t induce illegal activity, said former police officer Mark Friese, now a defense attorney at Vogel Law Firm in Fargo.
“If it’s just that they create a fake identity and begin a dialogue and develop a friendship, I don’t see it as problematic,” he said.
Facebook users worried that detectives have their eyes peeled on their profile feeds should know that just like offline investigations, online police probes aren’t arbitrary, Claus said.
“We target our investigations based on reasonable suspicion. We don’t monitor at random,” he said.
Fargo Forum Published October 03 2010
Facebook sting sign of cases to come
Sgt. Mat Sanders, head of Fargo’s narcotics unit, opened an account on Facebook under the name of Terra Vistad and invited several people in the area to be his friend. He alleges that in chats from Aug. 2 to Sept. 22, Felch agreed to pay up to $1,350 for a quarter-pound of pot, the cash due after he sold the drugs.
The police report claims after he was arrested in the park, Felch told Sanders he had met Vistad at a party before talking with her online. “I informed him that I was Terra Vistad,” Sanders said in the report.
Felch’s attorney, Mark Beauchene, didn’t return phone messages seeking comment.
Sanders didn’t return a message inquiring if other cases might spring from his Vistad profile, which doesn’t appear in a search of Facebook profiles.
Claus, who supervises all Fargo investigators, said Sanders took the idea to him for specific approval, and he signed off on it.
“These types of cases aren’t really any different than real-world cases, except they take place in cyberspace,” he said.
Claus said Facebook has been used by Fargo detectives to collect intelligence. He cited the manhunt for an Illinois murder suspect who left his car in Fargo in May as an example.
“By 9 or 10 o’clock, two intel detectives were online looking through his Facebook,” Claus said.
Police in West Fargo and Fargo also have Facebook pages, where they typically post safety messages, news about the departments and other items that are standard news release topics.
Stevens said she encourages police to be far more engaging online, such as using hash tags to interject messages into developing Twitter conversations.
“Very few of them are approaching it strategically,” she said.
She also thinks departments should have specific social-media policies: one for communications and another for investigations.
Claus said Fargo police have discussed establishing a social-media policy for communications, but not for investigations.
While some might object to undercover online operations, courts have ruled on a consistent basis that they’re legal as long as the officer doesn’t induce illegal activity, said former police officer Mark Friese, now a defense attorney at Vogel Law Firm in Fargo.
“If it’s just that they create a fake identity and begin a dialogue and develop a friendship, I don’t see it as problematic,” he said.
Facebook users worried that detectives have their eyes peeled on their profile feeds should know that just like offline investigations, online police probes aren’t arbitrary, Claus said.
“We target our investigations based on reasonable suspicion. We don’t monitor at random,” he said.
