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Police using social media posts to catch teens

Posted at 7:05 PM, Jan 29, 2016
and last updated 2016-01-29 21:16:31-05

It's not every day police catch a crook through social media, but it's getting more and more common. Especially with teens.

Germantown Police cited one teen this week for shoplifting, curfew violations and possession of tobacco after a concerned citizen brought the Germantown High School resource officer an Instagram video (You can see the clip in the video in our media player above).

Officer Toni Olson said many of the cases she sees are somehow related to social media.

"A lot of drug activity is posted online, on every different social media account," she said.

So, she and the Germantown Police Department encourage parents to lay down the virtual law - in a very real way.

"If they're not handling it appropriately and maturely, then they don't deserve it," explained Olson.

She said she does the same with their kids - asking them about their online friends and any concerning posts.

Olson knows parents don't want to see their kids upset, but said it's a way to open a conversation about right and wrong, good influences and that social media posts live on forever.