One way to make police and crimefighting work easier is to use social networking tools. Not only do crime fighters use sites such as FaceBook and Twitter to catch criminals, they use them for camaraderie and families of crimefighters use them for solace and support. The following list of top 25 social media and networking sites for cops and crimefighters provides a resource for social media perfection.

This list is divided into categories, including a category filled with tools to learn how to use social media sites. These instructions are geared specifically to crimefighting activities on the Internet. Each link within the categories is listed in alphabetical order, and the links lead straight to the sites where you can learn more.

Tools

Not only are police and crimefighters using the following tools to build a presence, they turn to them to find clues about recent crimes.

1. Blogger: Create a blog in minutes with this tool provided by Google. Upload photos, pull information from other social network sites and more with this easy-to-use blogging format.
2. Facebook: No matter if you use this tool as an individual or as an entire department, Facebook can provide you with essential tools to build community.
3. FriendFeed: Set up a personal or public feed that can pull from all your social network sites. This site is useful if you have a number of blogs or social media sites that focus on various topics (abduction, cybercrime, local investigations, etc.). This feed provides a one-stop-shop for readers who want information from multiple sources. You also can post straight into FriendFeed.
4. LinkedIn: Build a professional network on a local to a global basis — it’s up to you how wide you want to network. Great resource if you want to change locations, jobs or careers or if you’re trying to reach someone that may seem out of reach.
5. Meetup: This site offers a chance for Twitter users and others to connect on a local and regional level through various activities and groups. You can find many police groups here connecting with local citizens who support police and crimefighting efforts.
6. MySpace: This is another social networking site where you can develop a page and a presence.
7. Posterous: This site is both a blog and a social networking tool. Set it up for yourself or for your department and use the feed in other places, such as Blogger (below under Blogs) or Friendfeed (above).
8. Twitter: Boston Police are using Twitter (and Facebook) to help fight crime. Twitter has become an essential tool for breaking news, for communication and for community-building efforts.
9. WordPress: This site is great for two reasons: first, you can create a free blog and not worry about upgrades, messing around with code and more — WordPress provides a free format that makes those choices easy for you; secondly, if you plan to create a separate site down the road, this venue can offer a way to learn how to use WordPress before you install it on a site (also free).
10. YouTube: Use this site for a variety of needs, including news, instructions, crimefighting and building community. The Broward County, Florida’s Sheriff’s office uses this tool, with plenty of ideas on how to use this tool for your neighborhood.

Groups

The following groups were set up for camaraderie, information sharing and more. You also can set up a network at sites such as Ning.

11. American Police Veterans: This organization is dedicated to the issues and needs of police veterans across the U.S. Register to safely use the site.
12. Cops Online: This site launched in 1996, and is a group site by cops for cops. Cops Online now offers an expanded selection of interactive features like videos, blogs, forums, pictures and friend lists.
13. Crimefighters International: This site includes police as well as other crimefighters who share information on a global level.
14. Families of Police: This is a fraternal organization gathered together in a social network site. Membership is open to all family members of American law enforcement officers.
15. Law Officer Connect: This is a professional and social network for law enforcement personnel and police. You can post videos and photos here and engage with others in your line of work.
16. Police Pulse: This is a worldwide social networking group for police officers. It is separated into groups that include specific police departments or activities within a department, such as mounted police.

LinkedIn Groups

When you join groups such as Facebook or LinkedIn, you have access to various groups on those social media venues. The following list provides just a taste of what you can find at LinkedIn:

17. John G. Brenner’s Crime and Major Case Investigations Group: This group is fairly specific on who can join, limited to sworn or former investigators from CIA, NSA, DEA, ATF, USMS, USSS, etc.
18. Law Enforcement 2.0: The purpose of this LinkedIn group is to build a network of public safety professionals and web 2.0 experts to facilitate discussion about new social media and its application in law enforcement.
19. Organized Retail Crime Investigators: Get involved with this network to share information about organized retail crime.

Social Media How-To for Cops & Crimefighters

Some tips and advice on how to make all the above work for you.

20. ConnectedCOPS.net: The vision behind Connected COPS is to enhance law officers’ abilities to succeed with social media tools by providing insight, encouragement, education and the overall support required.
21. Social Networking Online and Criminal Justice: This link leads to a resource page that contains links for a large number of social media resources for law enforcement. This page is offered by LLRX, the law and technology resource for legal professionals.
22. Cops 2.0: This blog is about what social media means in the context of law enforcement and public safety. Learn practical ways to use social media tools through case studies, success stories and expert opinion..
23. Social Media 5.0: How does law enforcement police social media? Social Media Five-O provides some answers to this question and to many other questions pertaining to how law enforcement agencies, government, and businesses can implement social media into their communication platform.
24. Use of social network websites in investigations: This Wikipedia page is updated constantly with news about how the police and private investigators use social media to convict criminals. It also is a lead-in to show another social media tool – wikis. You can join Wikipedia or create a Wiki page that can be altered and updated constantly by users.
25. Wired Safety: Tap into this interactive blog to learn more about Cyberstalking, Cyberbullying and Cyberabuse.

Criminals and attorneys have one thing in common — they both learn that crimes are punished in varying degrees from state to state and from country to country. The following blogs can provide information from local-level police department blogs to forensic blogs on how criminal justice is meted out from the grassroots level to an international framework. You can learn from perspectives that range from law enforcers to lawyers and professors who deal with criminology and criminal justice on a daily basis.

The blogs listed below were chosen by using keywords and selecting the first ten blogs that appeared in that search. All blogs were further selected by recent status of updates. The links are listed alphabetically within five categories.

Police Department Blogs

1. Amherst Police Department: This police department, located in Massachusetts, provides news about local crime as well as their positive efforts to help the community.
2. BPD News: The Boston, Massachusetts police department provides statistics, pleas for help to solve crimes, advice and more on this updated blog.
3. Chief Hurtt’s Blog: Get the inside scoop on the Houston, Texas, police department activities through the eyes of its Chief of Police.
4. City of Eden Prairie Police Blog: Located in Minnesota, this small town provides a big blog on crime activities, department news and outreach for its residents.
5. Dalton Police Blog: Categories in this blog range from arrests to news about a women’s self-defense class. Learn more about this Georgia unit from this blog.
6. Granby Police Department Blog: This colorful blog is sponsored by the Granby, Massachusetts police department, with updates on traffic conditions, local crime news and police updates.
7. Inside Lakeland PD: The Lakeland, Florida police department provides stories, updates and office news in this blog.
8. LAPD Blog: The Los Angeles Police Department in California supplies information about missing persons and crime solving and asks for help in resolving crime in this blog.
9. SPD Blotter: The Seattle, Washington police department provides updated information on local crime. If you live in the Seattle area, you have the luxury of this blog as well as the Seattle 911 blog listed in the following category.
10. The Chief’s Corner: Tom Casady, Chief of Police for the Lincoln, Nebraska, police department, provides his insights about local crime and tips on how to protect yourself.

Police and Crime Scene Blogs

11. Crime Scene: Go behind the police line with the Miami Herald as Jennifer and Andrea fill you in on local crime scene news and investigations.
12. Crime Scene: This blog is dedicated to the general topics of crimes and crime prevention in Alaska. Sponsored by The Daily News, this blog encourages community engagement.
13. Crime Scene Blog: Frank Girardot and Brian Day report crime scene news, investigations and justice at this San Gabriel Valley, California, news blog.
14. Crime Scene KC: Read about local Kansas City crimes and punishments. Categories range from Amber Alerts to “Wrongly Convicted.”
15. Police Line Blog: The Sun in Massachusetts offers this blog as a resource for local crime news, alerts and crime scene investigations.
16. Seattle 911: This blog is a hybrid between a police department blog and a newspaper blog, as the writers contribute 911 information gathered from local authorities to the Seattle PI format news format.
17. SFGate Crime Scene: Follow crime scene investigations in the San Francisco Bay area and beyond.
18. The Crime Scene: Join The Washington Post as they follow local crime scene news.
19. The Crime Scene: Another crime scene blog, this one is an award-winning blog focused on crime and justice in southwest Missouri.
20. The Philosophical Cop Police Blog: A cop and philosopher, who also contributes to the Crime Report, talks about being a cop and all this job entails from a personal perspective.

Criminal Justice Blogs

21. Chicago Justice Project: This mission behind this project is to increase public access to justice-related information, based on the guiding principle that access to accurate information is the foundation of any meaningful reform to the criminal justice system.
22. Crime and Consequences: This blog focuses on crime and criminal law with information about civil cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, significant decisions in the field, links to news and discussions and studies on public policy implications related to crime and criminal justice.
23. Criminal Justice: This blog is one of many at Change.org. This particular blog focuses on prisons, wrongful indictments and information about human rights.
24. Criminal Justice Online: This blog provides criminal justice practitioners, students and academics with online information and resources from a variety of writers and their perspectives.
25. Grits for Breakfast: A highly popular blog that looks at the Texas justice system from the perspective of a former journalist turned “opposition researcher/political consultant, public policy researcher and blogger.”
26. Life at the Harris County Criminal Justice Center: An insider’s view of what is really happening in the Harris County, Texas, Criminal Courts.
27. Sentencing Law and Policy: This blog provides a national lens on criminal justice systems and their workings.
28. The Confrontation Blog: This blog is devoted to developments in the Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36 (2004) case, which transformed the doctrine of the Confrontation Clause.
29. The Innocence Project: The project is a national litigation and public policy organization dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted people through DNA testing and reforming the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice.
30. The Truth About False Confessions: The purpose behind this blog is to education, promote specific reforms and to assist attorneys with clients who may have falsely confessed to crimes.

Crime Law Blogs

31. American Constitution Society: The American Constitution Society for Law and Policy (ACS) is one of the nation’s leading progressive legal organizations. Their mission is to ensure that “fundamental principles of human dignity, individual rights and liberties, genuine equality, and access to justice enjoy their rightful, central place in American law.”
32. Capital Defense Weekly: This blogger updates this blog more frequently than once per week, and he focuses on national legal cases, executions and provides RSS feeds to other legal-worthy blogs on his site.
33. Crime and Federalism: This blog exposes prosecutorial, police and other governmental misconduct and informs the public and members of the legal profession about important criminal and civil rights issues.
34. CrimLaw: While it is unclear exactly where this person is located (possibly Virginia), the blog is entertaining and informative and provides plenty of links to other criminal law blogs.
35. CrimProf Blog: Dean and professor of law at the University of San Diego School of Law, Kevin Cole, provides insights into international and national crime issues with his blog.
36. Defending People: Or, the “Tao of Criminal Defense Trial Lawyering.” Learn more about the art and science fo criminal defense trial lawyering as well as other non-lawyer information at this blog.
37. Extradition and Transnational Defense News: If you are interested in white collar crime, extradition procedures and how foreign nationals are represented, then you might want to follow this blog.
38. Law of Criminal Defense: Although John Hall practices law in Little Rock, Arkansas, his focuse is on ethics issues throughout the U.S., in military courts, Canada and in international tribunals.
39. Legal Blog Watch: Use this blog to stay informed about law stories found throughout the country. A variety of bloggers supply the content, which offers both entertaining and informative legal information.
40. White Collar Crime Prof Blog: Professor Podgor provides almost daily information about white collar crime issues.

Forensic Science Blogs

41. All About Forensic Science: Although this site hosts a blog, it also provides a ‘library’ of information for anyone who seeks more information about forensic sciences.
42. Crime & Punishment: The National Museum of Crime and Punishment offers a popular blog that focuses on forensics, the science behind those forensics and crime stories.
43. Forensic Crime Scene: A couple, fascinated with forensic science and true-crime television shows, provides a forensics blog that is fun, riveting and educational.
44. Forensic Focus Blog: Follow this blog if you want to learn more about computer forensics. This blog is part of a larger forensic community, so be sure to follow the links in the right column to gain more insight into this field.
45. Forensic Photoshop: Learn how Adobe Photoshop software can be used to aid a forensic workflow.
46. Forensic Psychology, Criminology and Psychology Law Blog: Dr. Karen Franklin is a forensic psychologist, former criminal investigator and legal affairs reporter. She imparts news relevant to forensic psychology in her blog.
47. Forensic Science Blog: The University of Florida provides a teaching perspective to forensic sciences.
48. Forensics Talk: A forensic nurse with 35 years of clinical nursing experience, along with paralegal training, health care fraud, document tampering, criminalistics and Medico-legal Death Investigation training, provides an insightful blog about legal and forensic issues.
49. The Charles Smith Blog: Harold Levy used this blog to expose Dr. Charles Smith, who posed as a forensic pathologist. In the aftermath, Levy continues to expose similar ongoing cases.
50. Tillers on Evidence and Inference: Follow this student of the law on evidence, inference and investigation as he shows how evidence is gathered for legal activities such as trials and pretrial discovery and investigation.

While many media resources use Twitter to spread stories quickly, journalists and other individuals who want to know about breaking news might discover another resource closer to the action. If you follow some of the top fifty cops and crimefighters on Twitter listed below, you may learn about news even before major media outlets.

The list below is categorized, and the links are listed by their current popularity (the number of followers) within each category. Each linked resource also must have updated their page within the previous 48 hours before this article was written (as of Dec 9, 2009), and must have more than 750 followers. Therefore, no matter how popular the site, if it is not updated, that user did not make the list.

Police Departments

1. Boston Police: This police department Tweets crime alerts and emergency notifications in real time (9,718 followers).
2. Baltimore Police: This is the official site of the Baltimore Police Department, which offers updated Tweets about police activity (5,417 followers).
3. Milwaukee Police: Discover up-to-date an accurate information on how this police department is fighting “crime, fear and disorder in the community.” (3,274 followers).
4. Seattle Police Department: This site is used for police news and events out of Seattle, Washington (3,164 followers).
5. NYPD News: Follow the New York City Police Department’s Tweets about traffic advisories, safety tips and news coming from that institution (2,780 followers).
6. Calgary Police: Calgary, AB, Canadian police use their Tweets to inform readers about local events, rather than encounters with crime. But, they remain popular (2,060 followers).
7. Richmond Police: Located in Virginia, this police department provides local news, advice and updates (2,026 followers).
8. Modesto Police: Located in California, this police department provides updated police activity, alerts and news (1,964 followers).
9. Denver Police Department: Stay up to date on Denver police news, alerts and other items (such as the fact that it is illegal to spit in public in Denver) on this site (1,879 followers).
10. Boca Raton Police: This Florida police department provides police updates as well as news items for the Boca Raton area (1,799 followers).
11. Mountain View Police: This California police department provides news, updates, alerts and advice to local residents (1,671 followers).
12. Portland Police: Located in Oregon, this police bureau is dedicated to providing updated resources to Portland residents (1,645 followers).
13. Schenectady Police: This New York state police department provides news, alerts and updates through this site (1,598 followers).
14. Boynton Beach Police: Follow this Florida police team to learn about about their local crime and news alerts (1,492 followers).
15. West Midlands Police: This is an automated service out of West Midlands, England, that provides readers with latest appeals and press releases (1,352 followers).
16. Longview Police: This Texas police department stays on top of local traffic issues (1,301 followers).
17. Naples Police Department: The Naples, Florida police and fire departments share this page, which brings daily activities and alerts to readers (1,305 followers).
18. GM Police: Located in greater Manchester, England, this site focuses on community policing, crime prevention, community safety, police reports and more (1,259 followers).
19. Texas A&M Police: This police department is located at the Texas A&M College at College Station, Texas. They provide updates on suspicious persons and more at this site (1,210 followers).
20. Anne Arundel Police: Located in Maryland, this crime-fighting unit Tweets about local arrests, reported crime, news and alerts (1,183 followers).
21. Franklin Police: This Massachusetts police department uses Twitter to update readers on their posted police logs (1,110 followers).
22. Bolingbrook Police: Located in Illinois, this official site provides updates and alerts for local citizens (941 followers).
23. Mount Pleasant PD: Based in South Carolina, this coastal police department Tweets about news and traffic problems (838 followers).

Crimefighters

The list below contains individuals who currently work in civilian and/or military law enforcement or criminal justice. Retired police are not included, as most of those folks are following new paths.

24. Christian Elliott: This human rights activist works with law enforcement agencies, governments and NGOs to help resuce victims of human trafficking and slavery (14,263 followers).
25. Eric Robi: Follow this guy around and you may learn more about computer forensics at the Federal Forensics Group in Los Angeles (10,511 followers).
26. Police Notes: A law enforcement officer located in Florida Tweets updates while on the job (2,607 followers).
27. Oklahoma Co. Sheriff: Great tweets that provide updates on sobriety check points and more news in this Oklahoma region (1,901 followers).
28. SafetySecurity: Personal safety and crime zvoidance training offered here, along with alerts, news and other tidbits (1,717 followers).
29. AfghanOldBlue: Read Tweets from an Afghan veteran, NCO with 27 years of service and who was an embedded advisor with the Afghan National Police in ‘07 and ‘08 (1,664 followers).
30. Scott White: This Twitter user puts “Christian” before police officer and doesn’t tweet much about police work, but he has a good following (1,472 followers).
31. Larry Mazur: Known as “Halo 7,” this user is USC, US Navy, LA Police, United Nations-EOD, DHS Counter Terrorist Specialist and an Iron Man Triathlon competitor (1,244 followers).
32. dps782: This guy is a senior tour director, San Antonio Police Department PST and CPA. He also likes to golf (1,227 followers).
33. philthethrill: “Police officer with stories to share.” Join this Twitter user to learn more about his escapades (776 followers).

Other Services

34. FBI Press Office: Although billed as a “press” service, this Federal Bureau of Investigation service provides updated and pertinent information that hits this page as soon as it hits the media (15,958 followers).
35. Helen Li: CleverSpy is all about reverse records finding, criminal records check and court records searches (10,587 followers).
36. Net Detective: This Twitter user represents a record search and background check service (9,608 followers).
37. Eagle Investigative: A private detective investigative service located in Atlanta, George, provides problem-solving ideas for individuals and corporations (6,743 followers).
38. Cons Helping Cons: Located out of Nova Scotia, Canada, this group uses Twitter to talk about crime prevention and self-help (6,356 followers).
39. Robert A. Crutchfield: Robert is a fire department chaplain in Texas who Tweets about Christianity as well as about first responders (5,003 followers).
40. Toronto Police Traffic Services: Updates on local road conditions, enforcement issues and more (3,575 followers).
41. Toronto Police Media: Toronto continues to lead the police news game with this site, unaffiliated with the Toronto Police Department (2,476 followers).
42. InstantAmber: This is a child safety service that aids families and law enforcement agencies in the recovery of missing children (2,272 followers).
43. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime: This is a global effort to fight illicit drugs and international crime (2,069 followers).
44. Scan Sacramento: Located in California, this Twitter user provides public safety alerts for major police and fire incidents in that area (1,969 followers).
45. Carrolltrust: The UK HM Inland Revenue and Customs is completing an exhaustive investigation into the rapid break-up and liquidation of a multi-national industrial and philanthropic conglomerate (1,676 followers).
46. CHIEFsupply: This group caters to law enforcement nationwide with news and information on new services and products. You can be the first to learn about new camo being tested in Afghanistan, for instance (1,547 followers).
47. Houston Police: This unofficial Texas police Tweets all major accidents within Houston (1,488 followers).
48. 1800222TIPS: Once again, a Toronto, Canada site that offers Crime Stopper information as well as a conduit for legal graffiti art for youth (1,378 followers).
49. PoliceOne: This Twitter user’s mission is to provide officers with information and resources that make them better able to protect their communities and stay safer on the streets (1,318 followers).
50. OfficerCom: This is a police source, providing news and information for the law enforcement community (806 followers).

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!