A Maryland man wanted by the police set up his own capture by bragging on Facebook that he wouldn't be caught.
Wait for it, it gets stupider.
Wanted by Anne Arundel (Maryland) County police, Roger Ray Ireland, 28, was arrested in South Baltimore near the Anne Arundel county line at 1 pm yesterday.
The arresting officers served the Edgewater resident with an outstanding warrant for violating his probation.
The day prior to his arrest, Ireland had posted a comment under his own mugshot on the Anne Arundel Police's Facebook page saying "Y'all will never catch me." He added "Yo all people tagging my hole (sic) family bout (sic) my business stay... outta (my business)," profanity deleted. Although the original police posting on the Facebook page is still there, Ireland's comments have now been removed.
The Anne Arundel Police featured Ireland in their weekly #WantedWednesday posts on Facebook.
Ireland's Facebook bravado led to the submission of many tips to the police, resulting in his rapid rapprochement with incarceration. He was picked up during a traffic stop on the car he was in, and remitted himself into custody without incident or chagrin.
He may or may not be charged with taunting by the police, but the NFL has given him a 15-yard penalty.
"Social media is a great tool for law enforcement and we appreciate our Social Media Sleuths," said Police Chief Kevin Davis. "Community involvement is paramount to law enforcement's success and the amount of tips that we receive daily on social media shows how much ownership citizens are taking in their own communities."
Ireland will be represented in a hearing today by an assistant public defender. No word yet on any book or movie deals for the perp.
Social media is increasingly being used by law enforcement as an investigative tool. Over 78 percent of law enforcement organizations profess to have social media accounts, of which 38 percent identify as policing organizations, according to an FBI bulletin.
Law enforcement uses social media for public relations, crime prevention, emergency notices and criminal investigations. The general goal is to improve community relations and establish additional outlets for communication and information exchange. In 2011, Kentucky State Police posted pictures of personal belongings, tattoos and a facial composite relating to an unknown body found 10 years earlier. The posting generated enough evidence in response to close the case.
Criminals will also use social media to post photos of their crimes, contact information about themselves and their associates and generally do great police work by incriminating themselves.
