#CrackingTheCase: NJ State Police Get Help On Social Media
By Jessica Dean
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- New Jersey State Police wants villains to go viral. Using Twitter and Facebook, the department has created a CSI of social media with more than 120,000 followers.
NJSP Sgt. Jeffrey Flynn is the man behind the mouse. Their unofficial record time in solving a case via Facebook, he estimates, might be 20 minutes: a Mercer County home burglary captured by security cameras.
"Every profile you could get of his face is on my camera," said the homeowner, Cayla. She asked us to use only her first name. A total of four men stole electronics from her home last fall.
"It was horrible," Cayla said.
Sgt. Flynn distributed Cayla's security camera photos and NJSP Detective Jared Boyd crossed his fingers for a break.
"It really helps," Det. Boyd said. "The public then becomes another detective."
More than 3,000 followers shared the photos. Not long after, "they had already named him, the guy had already called, and was coming in to turn himself in," Cayla said.
Ultimately, more than 276,000 people saw the surveillance pictures. Three other suspects were arrested as well, to Cayla's relief. "It just felt like justice," she said.
Sometimes the worst photos actually work. You can barely see the shadow of a suspect riding an ATV in one photo they posted, "just terrible. And we said they were terrible," said Sgt. Flynn. "But from those pictures we got tips, and from those tips, we made the arrest."
The cases range from serious to slightly silly, like a suspect stealing $600 worth of frozen shrimp, and another stealing $700 worth of frozen seafood. Suspects were arrested in both cases. Sgt. Flynn added the hashtag #ItTakesAVillage.
"I try to just keep it light, and sometimes I try to do some funny hashtags just to keep people engaged and wanting to come back," said Sgt. Flynn.
That's why the page kicks in some Throwback Thursday pictures in between the crime solving.
Det. Boyd said, "And if it wasn't for Facebook, it wasn't for tips from the public, we'd still be sitting there with a file on our desk, trying to figure out who this person was."
New Jersey State Police on Facebook: www.facebook.com/NewJerseyStatePolice
New Jersey State Police on Twitter: @NJSP