Two recent Montgomery public safety situations turned into a wave of social media misinformation, the kind that law enforcement officials said can complicate their mission.
Alabama State University leased the Acadome to a private alternative school for graduation ceremonies. An ASU spokesman said a fistfight broke out in the ceremony last week, which lead to an elevated law enforcement presence on campus. Dozens of posts went out on social media falsely stating that there was an active shooter on campus.
A few days later a person “suffering a crisis,” according to Montgomery police, pulled a fire alarm at the RSA Tower in downtown Montgomery. The building was evacuated. That, too, generated posts over several social media platforms that falsely described it as an active shooter incident and, in the aftermath, alleged a media cover-up.
The incidents happened amid a burst of actual violence in the area, including a July 23 mass shooting in Montgomery.
Most law enforcement agencies monitor social media as a way of gathering intelligence or potential evidence. Posting or sharing false information relating to crimes can lead to wasted time as law enforcement agencies check out false leads.
Simple advice: If you don’t know, don’t post, said Prattville Police Chief Mark Thompson.
“We track social media and we check out just about everything that comes across relating to crimes or criminal activity in our area,” Thompson said. “Most turn out to be untrue. But we still have to expend resources, and investigators’ time, to check them out.”
He pointed to a recent example in Prattville.
“Two or three years ago, we had a string of vehicle break-ins,” he said. “It went from vehicle break-ins to somebody posting on social media that there was a home invasion in their neighborhood. We checked it out and went to that person and they said, ‘Well, I heard it from (another person.)’
“We went to that person and they said they heard it from another person. It was like that gossip game we played a kids. We could never find the source, but the story kept growing.”
Thompson said he understands people wanting to remain informed, particularly about potential public safety threats.
“Most law enforcement agencies will announce when something dangerous has occurred or is occurring,” he said. “Rely on your local law enforcement agencies for the truth. Don’t rely on some keyboard warrior out there talking about something they don’t know anything about.”
Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Marty Roney at mroney@gannett.com.
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