Police Realizing Craigslist Is A Resource, Not A Problem
from the well,-that's-good dept
Last month, we noted that Atlanta's mayor was wrongly blaming Craigslist for child prostitution, saying that Craigslist needed to take responsibility for preventing that kind of activity. The problem, of course, is that Craigslist isn't to blame. It's merely the platform. Not only that, by being such a popular platform it should have made it easier for police to target those who were actually doing something wrong. In fact, it looks like many other areas of the country realize that Craigslist is actually quite a useful tool. Police in a variety of places have now learned to track down those who are breaking the law on Craigslist. They aren't blaming the site, but recognizing how it helps them better capture criminals. It's nice to know that the misguided views of Atlanta's mayor aren't widespread.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Companies: craigslist
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
i took your bait.. and read the article in the NY Times. No where in the article did anyone on the law enforcement side claim that they look at CL as a good thing/tool regarding crime/prostitution.
In fact, the flavor of the article was that they would rather that CL not allow these kinds of postings at all!!! (Along with other sites.. as indicated in other similar articles.)
So mike.. tell us, where do you find law enforcement contacts/voices who like what CL is doing, and look at it in a positive light, as opposed to their wishing the erotic/prostitution posting weren't on the site at all.
you gotta do better with your analysis. if my child did this kind of work, she wouldn't make it out of 8th grade!!
puhleeze!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
No where in the article did anyone on the law enforcement side claim that they look at CL as a good thing/tool regarding crime/prostitution.
I never said it was "a good thing." I said that police are recognizing they can use it to catch criminals, rather than simply driving the criminals further underground.
Is it that hard to understand the difference?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: did you actually read it though??
"Augmenting traditional surveillance of street walkers, massage parlors, brothels and escort services, investigators are now hunching over computer screens to scroll through provocative cyber-ads in search of solicitors."
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Prostitution should be legal anyways.
You've been totally brainwashed by feminism.
Disconnect, my friend.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
That being said, using Craigslist to catch criminals is pretty close to using Iraq to fight terrorists. Doesn't mean that both couldn't use some cleaning up.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[i]"ANY & ALL information linked to illegal activities (stolen items etc) can be and will be used in prosecution as evidence. [/i]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
reread your article.. what you stated, was that "...it looks like many other areas of the country realize that Craigslist is actually quite a useful tool..."
your implication is that police view CL in a rather positive note with regards to dealing with prostitution/crime. you might argue that this is simply aruging subtleties. i would argue that it's simply another of your spin articles..
peace...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: well...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
then leave u f'in moron
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]