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Home / Whanganui Chronicle

Editorial: Net crime busters need to take care

Whanganui Chronicle
7 Feb, 2012 07:54 PM2 mins to read

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It's not  hard to imagine police having mixed views over the online steps taken by a Wanganui man to fight crime.

Inspired by an unfortunate series of run-ins with this city's criminal fraternity, Wade Coneybeer decided to set up a Facebook page, "Watch out for Wanganui burglars".

The page started off mainly listing weekly burglary statistics, and stories and items about crime.

All that changed when a security camera Mr Coneybeer installed outside his own house, after a Christmas burglary, was itself stolen.

However, the alleged thief's face was captured on the camera's footage, and Mr Coneybeer put the pictures up online. Readers quickly passed information on to him, and a name kept recurring, which Mr Coneybeer passed on to police. As yet, no charges have been laid.

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Police regularly talk about the community playing its part in preventing crime, and if charges are eventually laid over the theft of Mr Coneybeer's camera, his Facebook page may prove to be a prime example of the good which can come from community action.

If nothing else, increased awareness of the risk posed by burglars and information on the areas they target can only be positive.

But there is also need for caution.

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Vigilante justice is an ever-present threat, and by "outing" an alleged offender on Facebook before any charges have been laid, let alone proven, there's the obvious potential for a serious miscarriage of justice to occur - and that's not even accounting for the actions of the "hang 'em high" brigade, who have been known to take the law into their own hands on occasion.

It's a sign of the times that social media can now have such an impact, although Mr Coneybeer was likely on to a winner from the start - there's no shortage of people keen for criminals to be exposed to public scrutiny. Just look at the regular furore around court-ordered name suppression.

But it should be remembered that our justice system still abides by the tenet that people are innocent until proven guilty.

Police have to tread a fine line, supporting community initiatives to stamp out crime, while remaining distanced from anything which might encourage people to take the law into their own hands.

That's the murky no-man's land that Mr Coneybeer's Facebook page currently inhabits, and it's territory which will need to be navigated with caution.

Feedback: editor@wanganuichronicle.co.nz

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