http://m.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/nypd-busting-gang-members-social-media-article-1.2464786
Deputy Chief Kevin Catalina, the commanding officer of the NYPD’s Gang Division, says social media is like breathing to gang members.
Before busting dozens of gang members in the Bronx, the NYPD became their friends — on Facebook.
Nearly 40 members of the Washside gang are each facing at least 15 years in prison, toppled by cops mining social media posts that boasted about guns and violence.
For cybersleuth cops and prosecutors, what’s not to like?
“Social media to these guys is like breathing, and you can’t stop breathing,” said Deputy Chief Kevin Catalina, the commanding officer of the NYPD’s Gang Division. “It’s not worth being a gang member if you can’t in some way brag about your exploits.”
GANGS TIED TO 49 PERCENT OF SHOOTINGS IN NYC, MOSTLY OVER PETTY DISPUTES
For years, scouring social media has been one of the many tools investigators use to build cases against gang members, Catalina told the Daily News. But with more and more criminals posting to Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, investigations into social media activity have become as valuable as evidence gathered on the streets.
The Washside gang — an offshoot of the Bloods who claim control over four blocks in Claremont Village in the Bronx bordered by Washington and Third Aves. and 168th and 170th Sts. — is a textbook example of a social media gang takedown.
Between 2010 and 2015, the crew’s criminal exploits were laid out in Facebook posts — including their plans to kill members of the Sev-0 gang, longtime rivals who operate on the other side of 170th St., according to court documents obtained by the The News.
“Lefty want to mob Sev-0 tomorrow,” one gang member wrote to leader Malcolm Bland on Jan. 21, 2013, informing him that a plan was in motion to hit the rival crew.
“N----- got to be low,” Bland wrote back, informing the underling to hide out somewhere once the deed was done.
“Well he said he need sum stripes,” the gang member responded, explaining that the hit was being planned so “Lefty” could move up in the gang’s ranks.
NYPD UP TO THE CHALLENGE OF GANG VIOLENCE: COMMISSIONER BRATTON
Shortly after the conversation, members of the Sev-0 gang — named for their proximity to 170th St. — were attacked and hospitalized, officials said.
Deputy Chief Kevin Catalina, the commanding officer of the NYPD’s Gang Division, says social media is like breathing to gang members.
Before busting dozens of gang members in the Bronx, the NYPD became their friends — on Facebook.
Nearly 40 members of the Washside gang are each facing at least 15 years in prison, toppled by cops mining social media posts that boasted about guns and violence.
For cybersleuth cops and prosecutors, what’s not to like?
“Social media to these guys is like breathing, and you can’t stop breathing,” said Deputy Chief Kevin Catalina, the commanding officer of the NYPD’s Gang Division. “It’s not worth being a gang member if you can’t in some way brag about your exploits.”
GANGS TIED TO 49 PERCENT OF SHOOTINGS IN NYC, MOSTLY OVER PETTY DISPUTES
For years, scouring social media has been one of the many tools investigators use to build cases against gang members, Catalina told the Daily News. But with more and more criminals posting to Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, investigations into social media activity have become as valuable as evidence gathered on the streets.
The Washside gang — an offshoot of the Bloods who claim control over four blocks in Claremont Village in the Bronx bordered by Washington and Third Aves. and 168th and 170th Sts. — is a textbook example of a social media gang takedown.
Between 2010 and 2015, the crew’s criminal exploits were laid out in Facebook posts — including their plans to kill members of the Sev-0 gang, longtime rivals who operate on the other side of 170th St., according to court documents obtained by the The News.
“Lefty want to mob Sev-0 tomorrow,” one gang member wrote to leader Malcolm Bland on Jan. 21, 2013, informing him that a plan was in motion to hit the rival crew.
“N----- got to be low,” Bland wrote back, informing the underling to hide out somewhere once the deed was done.
“Well he said he need sum stripes,” the gang member responded, explaining that the hit was being planned so “Lefty” could move up in the gang’s ranks.
NYPD UP TO THE CHALLENGE OF GANG VIOLENCE: COMMISSIONER BRATTON
Shortly after the conversation, members of the Sev-0 gang — named for their proximity to 170th St. — were attacked and hospitalized, officials said.
good riddance
He really really did. "Do you see the perpetrator
.... yeah I'm right here 
"
