Do digital interventions for cannabis problems work?
Digital interventions for cannabis problems are promising and could help access large numbers of people who don’t want to use drug treatment agencies
The law and social media
Our legal system is struggling to keep up with modern online behaviour and many people don’t realise that they could be breaking the law by a simple tweet.
Unlocking offenders’ doors to employment
Since they are 10 million individuals in the UK with a criminal record, employers need to think twice before excluding such a large proportion of potential new recruits.
Digital government extends its reach
Interestingly, the service with the highest percentage of mobile device visits is Book a prison visit, at 62.9%.
Social media and crime
The financial cost of cybercrime in the US is allegedly larger than the illegal drug markets for cocaine, heroin and cannabis – combined, 33% of all Internet-initiated sex crimes were instigated through social networking sites
What do Apple, Facebook and Google know about you?
We all know that huge technology companies keep track of us, but somehow we never quite imagine the full extent and detail of what they know about us. The infographic below from backgroundchecks.org is educational to say the least:
The law can’t cope with crimes on social media
The ideal is for social media networks to police themselves, but you only have to look at some of the outrageous, sexually violent tweets that many women routinely encounter online to know that this approach isn’t always sufficient.
MoJ takes #notorevengeporn campaign online
Revenge Porn is the sharing of private, sexual materials, either photos or videos, of another person, without their consent and with the purpose of causing distress.
Transforming the Criminal Justice System
The digital justice system is slowly becoming a reality. Police now transfer more than 90% of case files electronically to the CPS and there are digital Court pilots in Birmingham and Bromley. The next priority is to digitise evidence with police officers’ notebooks being overtaken by tablets and body worn video cameras which should not only streamline but also improve the quality of evidence.
The Great Manchester Probation Twitterthon
Whatever happens to the work of probation, it will always be important to champion the invaluable work that committed professionals carry out in order to support rehabilitation and to protect communities. Intimately linked to this, contrary to the view propounded by elements within the national media, promoting the fact probation supports offenders in making positive changes is vital.
Police countdown to Christmas with #Badvent calendars
ottinghamshire Police – @nottspolice – went in a different direction entirely. Their online advent calendar replaces the daily chocolate with the picture of a “most wanted” local criminal. Originally termed the #Badvent Calendar, it was renamed the “Festive Crime Calendar”. It’s still a strong contender for my hashtag of the year award.
Sign up to get Twitter Alerts from your emergency services
It is up to each emergency service to decide in what circumstances it should use a Twitter Alert. But, obviously, services will want to restrict their use carefully to crisis, disaster and emergency communications where spreading accurate safety information is critical. Here are a few examples of real-life Twitter Alerts from the US:
