• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

Facebook friend turns into Big Brother

I see....
It's trolling when you disagree with my position....;)
Ok, how about they spend that time on DUI patrol?....:confused:
Or better yet looking for prostitution or kiddie porn offenders....;)

No, it isn't because I disagree with your position. It is because you are willfully bringing an inflammatory position about illegal mexican immigration into a thread about some kid in Wisconsin having his rights violated.

I have no problem with the other two uses of the police's time.
 
i'm pretty sure it is the cops job to enforce the law and maintain order, hypothetically the kid could've got really pissed, thus losing alot of common sense and grabbed a kitchen knife and tried to mug someone or something like that.

Yea, that seems really plausible...:roll:
 
Facebook and myspace are valuable investigative tools, however, it's a huge waste of officer time to investigate a STATUS OFFENSE on facebook. Furthermore, I wonder what court would uphold this charge?
 
Facebook and myspace are valuable investigative tools, however, it's a huge waste of officer time to investigate a STATUS OFFENSE on facebook.

I imagine they are great investigative tools if an officer is already pursuing an investigation. But just throwing a net out on facebook and hoping to catch something isn't exactly a worthy pursuit of the public safety officers.
 
I imagine they are great investigative tools if an officer is already pursuing an investigation. But just throwing a net out on facebook and hoping to catch something isn't exactly a worthy pursuit of the public safety officers.

Exactly right. These are good investigative tools for pursuing group conspiracy charges, or gang enhancements to an existing criminal activity, etc. Using it as the primary basis for busting someone is questionable, IMO. Especially if you have to ask to be added as a friend. That adds a step to the process that makes me question the legality of it. It would be different if this were public information readily viewable by anyone (though it is still not a basis for pursuing a minor in possession of alcohol charge, IMO). I hope he's hired an attorney.
 
No, it isn't because I disagree with your position. It is because you are willfully bringing an inflammatory position about illegal mexican immigration into a thread about some kid in Wisconsin having his rights violated.

I have no problem with the other two uses of the police's time.

:prof Wisconsin is a border state, FYI.....;)
 
Yes, we're simply being overwhelmed by mass immigration from canuckistan. They want access to our free healthcare and social services.

It does exist, & it is mainly Muslims who use the north route, because access to Canada is so easy....;)
Can we get back on topic?.....:confused:
 
It does exist, & it is mainly Muslims who use the north route, because access to Canada is so easy....;)
That's how Barack Obama got elected. Millions of America-hating black Muslims streamed into America through the porous US-Canada border and each of their votes got counted twice for every white man's.
 
WTF!?

Is it ok for the police to use facebook and other social websites to *enforce* the law? I think this is a privacy issue.

What do you think?

I can understand your concern, however, I use social websites such as Face Book and MySpace all the time to track down individuals. I confess that I have even resorted to trickery, when the situation called for it, to get the respondant to come out into the open.

It is a very effective tool. And until it is determined that it is illegal, we will use any tool available to us to get the job done. I totally understand where the cops are coming from.

But, all that being said, something about it does kinda stick in my crawl. But I doubt I will get on a soapbox about it knowing that the criminal element and those who walk on the other side of the line use tools far more destructive as a means to their end. But bustin' college kids for posing with a beer or a bong is a bit petty in my personal opinion. There are bigger fish to fry.

I suppose all's fair in love and war.
:rofl
 
Eh, wishful thinking on my part. Not all cops are like this, though. My father was a Los Angeles County Sherriff's deputy and he ignored blatant drug users on the street. He mainly sought to end domestic violence, murder, theft, etc. His line of logic was that there was no point in arresting people who were not endangering or hurting others. I guess that's where some of my views come from. :shrug:

I can safely say from the info in this post that your father was the epitome of how law enforcement officials should conduct their job.
 
When L.E.O.'s start picking and choosing which laws they will enforce and which one's they will not, that could get very slippery.

A professional peace officer, (at least the one's in my He Man Women Hater's Club, :mrgreen:) clocks in, enforces the laws given him to enforce, clocks out, goes home.

I suppose a certain degree of discretion may be required from time to time but it is too much to ask them to be judge and jury too.

Society makes the laws, cops enforce 'em. No more, no less.

Some street cops I know will let a brutha slide with a bag of dope or even a few rocks IF you bring them a gun by noon tomorrow and place it under some dumpster at some predetermined location. I'm not so sure that is as much discretion as it is negotiation. That's policing.
 
Last edited:
I can understand your concern, however, I use social websites such as Face Book and MySpace all the time to track down individuals. I confess that I have even resorted to trickery, when the situation called for it, to get the respondant to come out into the open.

It is a very effective tool. And until it is determined that it is illegal, we will use any tool available to us to get the job done. I totally understand where the cops are coming from.

But, all that being said, something about it does kinda stick in my crawl. But I doubt I will get on a soapbox about it knowing that the criminal element and those who walk on the other side of the line use tools far more destructive as a means to their end. But bustin' college kids for posing with a beer or a bong is a bit petty in my personal opinion. There are bigger fish to fry.

I suppose all's fair in love and war.
:rofl

This isn't love and war. This is civil rights and the freedom to move about your life and socialize freely without the police Gestapo'ing you down on facebook under false pretense.

I don't know what you do that requires you to flush people out using deceptive practices, but I am saying that for pursuing crime, befriending someone on facebook to seek a confession of a crime or even gather personal information as evidence basically amounts to search without a warrant and an end run around Miranda.
 
When L.E.O.'s start picking and choosing which laws they will enforce and which one's they will not, that could get very slippery.

A professional peace officer, (at least the one's in my He Man Women Hater's Club, :mrgreen:) clocks in, enforces the laws given him to enforce, clocks out, goes home.

I'm sorry, you are simply mistaken. LEO's have tremendous discretion in enforcing laws. A police officer may encounter a minor in possession of alcohol, and can pick and choose from a wide range of possible responses. He/she can dump out the alcohol, determine the youth's sobriety, and send him on his way. He can call a parent and wait for the parent to pick up the youth. He can take the youth home. He can cite the individual for minor under the influence/possession. Or, he can take the youth to a detention center.

However, with a status offense, officers RARELY go straight to the harshest possible sanction, particularly on a first offense. In this case, we are talking about a minor status offense with very limited evidence to prove the crime. I call this a bull**** action on the part of law enforcement.
 
I'm sorry, you are simply mistaken. LEO's have tremendous discretion in enforcing laws. A police officer may encounter a minor in possession of alcohol, and can pick and choose from a wide range of possible responses. He/she can dump out the alcohol, determine the youth's sobriety, and send him on his way. He can call a parent and wait for the parent to pick up the youth. He can take the youth home. He can cite the individual for minor under the influence/possession. Or, he can take the youth to a detention center.

However, with a status offense, officers RARELY go straight to the harshest possible sanction, particularly on a first offense. In this case, we are talking about a minor status offense with very limited evidence to prove the crime. I call this a bull**** action on the part of law enforcement.

Not only that but he approached the kid through anonymous means to gain access to something he had clearly marked as private, assuming a false identity right down to a false gender and then proceeded to seek a confession whilst combing through his personal life electronically. With a warrant, I could see this being legal, if questionable, as an undercover operation. But even still, before his confession was even admissible, I would think the boy would have to be Mirandized (sp?) and understand that he was speaking, even electronically, to a police officer.
 
Last edited:
This isn't love and war. This is civil rights and the freedom to move about your life and socialize freely without the police Gestapo'ing you down on facebook under false pretense.

I don't know what you do that requires you to flush people out using deceptive practices, but I am saying that for pursuing crime, befriending someone on facebook to seek a confession of a crime or even gather personal information as evidence basically amounts to search without a warrant and an end run around Miranda.

Yeah, right.

Sorry, but that just doesn't hold water legally. I think this incident was ridiculous, but it was legal.
 
Yeah, right.

Sorry, but that just doesn't hold water legally. I think this incident was ridiculous, but it was legal.

Well perhaps you might like to back up this assertion with something more than a blanket statement of ridicule?:roll:
 
While not in relation to the direct story but since Facebook is the topic;

My boss showed me an interesting article on Facebooks new privacy policy. One of the things that arent kept private are your fan pages. I didnt think much of it since my fan pages are just politics and sports but then my boss went to the rigamaroll on how potential employers nowadays do google and facebook searches on potential employees to find out what type of person they are. I dont have a problem with this at all its just becoming now that people have to be really careful what they put on Facebook, Myspace, etc.
 
Well perhaps you might like to back up this assertion with something more than a blanket statement of ridicule?:roll:

Is there a particular legislation that states a civilians Social Services profile contains enough information to require a warrant to access it? Is this official protocol? If not, then i guess it was done within the boundaries of the law.
 
Well perhaps you might like to back up this assertion with something more than a blanket statement of ridicule?:roll:

The cops did it and nobody has successfully challenged it in court as far as I know, so I think the burden of proof is on the guy who made the claim that it's illegal in the first place.

Since when can you post pictures of yourself in a public forum committing a crime and expect privacy? It's a ridiculous idea. An expectation of privacy on Facebook? Absurd.
 
Last edited:
Is there a particular legislation that states a civilians Social Services profile contains enough information to require a warrant to access it? Is this official protocol? If not, then i guess it was done within the boundaries of the law.

What? What the hell are you talking about, social services profile?

This isn't a social services profile or any other government owned documentation. This is a social networking page kept as private that was deceptively opened up to LEO seeking a confession for an offense that he had no prior instigation to investigate.

So no, without a probable cause justification AND an indication that the officer was seeking a confession for a crime, then no, this was not within the boundaries of the law. It was a blatant entrapment situation with an end run around his Miranda rights.
 
Yeah, think about the thread title - a website where people voluntarily post information and pictures for all to see is somehow spying on them. What a friggin joke. People, if you post it on the internet, it's public. Get used to it.
 
The cops did it and nobody has successfully challenged it in court as far as I know,

That's just retarded. "It is right because that's how it happened" is not a legitimate rebuttal.

so I think the burden of proof is on the guy who made the claim that it's illegal in the first place.

Well, I have supported my position. You have just caterwauled "this is ridiculous" and done nothing to support position so I think it's clear where the score is here.

Since when can you post pictures of yourself in a public forum committing a crime and expect privacy? It's a ridiculous idea. An expectation of privacy on Facebook? Absurd.

It's not public when it's marked as private. That's the whole issue...no one can see it except those you designate to share it with. The officer used a false identity, gender, etc to form a "personal" relationship with the suspect and proceeded to trample all over his right to be protected from unlawful search.

The absurdity here is that you can't support your opposition to my position with anything of substance.
 
Yeah, think about the thread title - a website where people voluntarily post information and pictures for all to see is somehow spying on them. What a friggin joke. People, if you post it on the internet, it's public. Get used to it.

So still no attempt to support your position. "I'm right because I say I am".

How idiotic on a debate site?:doh
 
That's just retarded. "It is right because that's how it happened" is not a legitimate rebuttal.

Please don't use "retarded" as an insult.

I didn't say it was right because that's how it happened. I said it means he has the burden of proving his assertion. Which is true anyway.
 
Back
Top Bottom