High-Tech Tools Used To End Standoff

Twitter was the method used by the Vermillion Police Department at about 8:30 p.m. Thursday night to initially inform the public that a standoff with a jail escapee that had gone on for hours in Vermillion had ended.

“Barricaded suspect situation has ended, Charles Mix County escapee Jubal Grant is in custody,” the Vermillion Police Department tweet states.

Social media was just one of the high-tech tools used by law enforcement that day to eventually get Jubal Grant back behind bars. Everything from a drone to a robot equipped with a video camera and a two-way radio were among the tools used by officers that allowed Thursday’s incident to end with the best possible outcome, said Vermillion Police Chief Matt Betzen.

Read more from PlainTalk.net [HERE]. 

Police: Hey Kid, Stop Using Twitter During Standoff

Social media has increasingly become part of crisis and hostage situations.  The role social media ranges from messages being posted by the subject leading up to the incident, the subject and victims posting during the incident as well as the police, and finally the police sharing information post-incident. 

Unfortunately people also post live updates of incidents that can interfere with police operations.  What is also unfortunate, as this story shows, is people do not seem to realize the impact their tweets or status updates can.  

Social Media & Hostage Crisis Negotiation

ACR Crisis Negotiation Section co-chair Jeff Thompson, along with Lt. Mark Lowther, presented "Social Media & Hostage / Crisis Negotiation" at the annual Cyberweek conference.  Cyberweek is  a week-long series of webinars, discussion forums, radio shows, twitter chats, and more all concerning conflict resolution and technology.