150 officers warned over Facebook

30 December 2011 Last updated at 07:07 ET

Seven officers resigned following complaints about Facebook posts between 2008 and 2010

One police officer was sacked and more than 150 faced disciplinary action over their behaviour on Facebook in a three-year period, figures have shown.

Some used the social networking site to harass ex-partners and ex-colleagues or make comments about officers' wives.

Others suggested they had beaten up members of the public during protests.

The figures, from 41 of the 43 forces in England and Wales, were obtained by the Press Association under the Freedom of Information Act.

Racist comment

Officers were also said to have revealed operations, tried to befriend crime victims or posted inappropriate material.

One officer serving with the Hampshire force was dismissed without notice in 2009 for posting a racist comment on Facebook, the force said. No further details were made available.

The figures cover between 2008 and 2010, but a second officer was sacked earlier this year for referring to another officer as a "grass" and a "liar" on Facebook and harassing a female colleague. No further details on 2011's complaints are available.

As well as those sacked or disciplined, seven officers resigned following complaints. They were two special constables from the Dorset force, and one officer from each of Bedfordshire, Cheshire, Essex, North Wales and South Yorkshire.

Between 2008 and 2010, a total of 187 complaints were made against officers over their use of Facebook, with nine officers given final written warnings, 47 given written warnings, one given a formal warning and another fined.

Additionally, 88 were subject to management action, received guidance or words of advice, while 32 complaints were either withdrawn, found to be unsubstantiated or led to no further action.

One disciplinary outcome in Leicestershire, following comments made on Facebook, was withheld by the force.

Roger Baker, who led a review into police corruption for Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC), said: "Social networking is seen as a risk by all forces and authorities, but there are limited or inconsistent policies around what is acceptable, what you should do, what you shouldn't do.

"We found a significant blurring between people's professional lives on social networking sites and their private lives which may be in the public domain and private lives which probably should remain extremely private."

Chief Constable Mike Cunningham, of the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), said while officers have a right to privacy, they should be "aware of the risk they are subject to when they identify themselves as being a member of the service".

Continue Reading... Labels: Facebook, officers, warned

Heartbroken Dog Refuses to Leave Owner’s Grave, and Facebook Rewrites Six Degrees of Separation

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A video of a dog in a small village in China has the web buzzing about his devotion.  When 68-year-old Lao Pan died earlier this month, the only surviving member of his family was a small yellow dog that he left behind.  His little companion has refused to leave his burial site since his owner's death.  When villagers noticed the dog lingering around the grave, they began bringing him food and water since he had not eaten in a week.  Some villagers even tried to coax the dog away and back to the village, but he always finds his way back to the grave site.  Now villagers are planning to build the dog a kennel near the site where his owner is buried.  Social media is loving this dog.  People have been tweeting that this story is "heartbreaking," and saying that it made their heart smile and cry simultaneously. The loyal canine is also reminding people of the 19th century's legendary Greyfriar's Bobby, a Skye Terrier in Scotland who returned to his owner's grave every day for 14 years. A statue was erected in the dog's honor in Edinburgh shortly after its death, and has become a well-known tourist attraction.  The U.S. has its own version of a well-known loyal canine.  Earlier this year, another video of man's bestfriend went viral.  The footage shows Hawkeye, a Labrador retriever, the devoted dog who refused to leave the side of his owner, fallen Navy Seal Jon Tumlinson at his funeral. Regardless of people wanting to debate if animals are like a member of the family, one thing is certain, all of these canine's bring the adage of "man's best friend" to life.

Ever heard of the phrase six degrees of separation? The theory refers to the idea that every person is only six steps away, by way of introduction, from any other person on Earth.  In 1967, psychologist Stanley Milgram published his findings on 'six degrees' after conducting an experiment where 296 volunteers were asked to send a message via postcard through friends, and then friends of friends to a specific person in Boston. Well Facebook is making the degree of separation even smaller.  The social media site has taken the concept and reduced it to just 4.74 degrees of separation.  Over a one month period, researchers at Facebook and The University of Milan used algorithms that measured the connections between 721 of its users.  According to a New York Times article, the algorithms calculate the average distance between any two people by computing a vast number of sample paths among Facebook users. They found that the average number of links from one arbitrarily selected person to another was 4.74. In the United States, where more than half of people over 13 are on Facebook, it was just 4.37. Therefore, the results confirmed that given any other person on Earth, a friend of your friend probably knows a friend of their friend. Of course, this depends on your definition of the word 'friend.' Some people say these connections between other people simply support the idea that Facebook's definition of 'friendship' is not the same as it is in the real world. At any rate, with the help of Facebook and social media in general, it has become a lot easier to reach people and make connections.  Looks like the world just got a little bit smaller.

Continue Reading... Labels: Degrees, Facebook, Grave, Heartbroken, Leave, Owner’s, Refuses, Rewrites, Separation

NC sex offender gets prison for Facebook request

The lightest solid in the world is less dense than air and was modeled after the Eiffel Tower: http://t.co/7ESIMlxR

Continue Reading... Labels: Facebook, offender, prison, request