High-School Police Make Arrests Based on MySpace Information

Police based in high schools are checking out social networking websites to keep an eye on gangs and monitor student disputes.

Student posts on Facebook and MySpace are being scrutinized for taunts and information that can help solve crimes, the Washington Post reports.

Officer Joe Lowery, at James Hubert Blake High School in Silver Spring, Md., told the Post that he solved an armed robbery of two high school students when he saw a picture of a man on MySpace whose clothes exactly matched the students’ description.

And police in Fairfax County, Va., arrested seven teens for gang recruiting activities. Police were tipped off in part by gang symbols on one of the suspect’s MySpace profiles, the story says.

A story published earlier this year by the Boston Globe said some police are going further, setting up fake profiles on the websites to gather information about crimes and seeking messages between individuals.