Portland observer., April 18, 2012, Page 3, Image 3

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A p ril 18. 2012
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S ports
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H ealth
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Crimes via Social Media
Connections examined after flash mob incident
by M indy C ooper
O pinion
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C areer > E ducation
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J ustice
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C alendar
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F o o d
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But monitoring is the responsi­
T he P ortland O bserver
bility of the responsibility of the
In an effort to curb the rising rate parents first and foremost, said
of violence and crime amongst Port­ Simpson. “Mainly because law en­
land youth, local law enforcement forcement neither has the responsi­
officers encourage parents through­ bility nor legal authority to monitor
out the community to talk to their people’s social media sources 24/
kids about their use of social media, 7.”
including the popular MySpace,
He added there are no restric­
twitter and Facebook.
tions if the information is all public,
Earlier this month, young indi­
viduals banded together in a flash
rob, which walked into a conve­
nience mart in southeast Portland
and walked out without paying for
their candy and sodas.
According to the clerk, 16 people
walked through his doors and stole
between $200 and $300 dollars of
shoplifted products.
Law enforcement officials say
“flash robs,” are not happening at
an astronomical rate .within Port­
land, but the organizing of such
incidents can be easily done via the
internet and networking sites.
“Gang members definitely use
social media to communicate with
each other in good and bad ways,”
said Don Livingston, sergeant for
Portland's Gang Enforcement Task
Force.
Portland Police Bureau Sgt. Pete
Simpson said although media tech­
nologies such as Facebook, Twitter
and MySpace are not driving forces
for violence, there are a number of
aspects of social media in many
violent cases in the city.
There are online beefs that have
escalated into violence, he said.
“There needs to be certain monitor­
ing by parents. There should be no
grey area about it.”
Livingston, who has seen a rise
in youth gang involvement in the
past few years, agreed.
“I recommend parents intervene
at an early age and monitor their but to watch an individual’s private
social media because they are going media is not right.
to use it no matter what,” he said.
While many young people use
Livingston suggested parents to social media, including Facebook
talk with their children early about and YouTube like “normal kids,”
the power of social technology and Livingston said he has seen many
networking sites.
gang-involved young people use
According to Simpson, the Po­ the media tools in a negative way.
lice Bureau has seen incidents in the
At the same time, gang violence
past organized by social media that amongst youth, especially in the
have been both illegal and legal. past few years has soared. The num­
“Social media is how a lot of people ber of shootings went from 68 in
send out invitations or get people to 2009 to 113 in 2011, Livingston said.
do something,” he said.
“All of those were gang-involved
shootings and a few stabbings.”
Although Livingston attributes
much of the rise in violence to the
release of several gang members
from the 1990s after they completed
their sentences, he said he has also
seen a rise in the use of social media
between gang members, who often
use technology as a means to both
organization and communication.
Although neither Livingston nor
Simpson could provide examples
from current and ongoing investi­
gations, they both remember the
case of 13-year-old Julio Marquez,
who was the youngest victim of
gang involved violence in Portland
in the past decade.
The week before his death,
Marquez, under a different name,
made posts to his Facebook page
about his affiliation with the Surenos
continued
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