Use of Twitter, Facebook rising among gang members

[Buttercup]

LOS ANGELES – When a gang member was released from jail soon after his arrest for selling methamphetamine, friends and associates assumed he had cut a deal with authorities and become a police informant.

They sent a warning on Twitter that went like this: We have a snitch in our midst.

Unbeknownst to them, that tweet and the traffic it generated were being closely followed by investigators, who had been tracking the San Francisco Bay Area gang for months. Officials sat back and watched as others joined the conversation and left behind incriminating information.

Use of Twitter, Facebook rising among gang members - Yahoo! News

[Jenna]

Wait till they establish gangresource.com.....

[Autumn2009]

I want to see their verification process. Lol.

[Jenna]

I want to see their verification process. Lol.

I want to see the flame wars between the "Verified Crips" and "Verified Bloods"....

Gang Resource Forums Gang Member Verification Requirements

You must be a gang member with full crime-committing powers, a criminal record in your jurisdiction, and have passed initiation rites administered by a recognized gang. You must be able to perform full gang functions, such as being arrested, being served with a warrant, breaking traffic laws, breaking local ordinances, and breaking state laws, etc. Members of wannabe and poser gangs (your high school buddies that you call a gang even though you never committed crimes, the Gang of 14 in the Senate, Kool and the Gang, the Geometry Analysis Numerics Graphics [GANG] research team, etc.) do not meet our verification requirements. If you are not sure you meet these requirements, private message a Site Staff member, and we will advise you and/or come and do a drive-by shooting at your home, depending on how we're feeling that day.

The following are some, but not all of the reasons for which Officer Resource may remove a Verified Gang Member tag from a member:

1) A Verified Gang Member no longer wants to commit crimes.

2) A Verified Gang Member has been found not guilty of any crimes.

3) A Verified Gang Member whose behavior on the site has demonstrated judgment that is too good to make continued gang membership likely.

4) A Verified Gang member who has refused to commit acts of ethical or moral turpitude.

5) Any other reason that is in the best interest of the site.

[Radar]

Wasn't there already a couple of gang forums out there? And I know there was a DUI forum where you could complain about the cops harassing you for drinking and driving, that was strictly verified only where they checked to make sure you actually had a DUI on your record, or you were a "get out of that DUI lawyer" before you were allowed to join. I only remember but it was causing headaches around for a while because they were sharing idiotic advice on how to get out of being prosecuted, and then spilling all angrily when it wasn't working.

[Jenna]

And I know there was a DUI forum where you could complain about the cops harassing you for drinking and driving, that was strictly verified only where they checked to make sure you actually had a DUI on your record, or you were a "get out of that DUI lawyer" before you were allowed to join.

How would they verify that?

[213th]

How would they verify that?

Not hard if you know where to look and want to do the legwork. Usually it's a matter of public record. The state of Alaska actually has an online database of offenders. Type in the name, and convictions on record will show up. Even speeding tickets.