December 15, 2010 | 10:40 AM | By

The Intersection of Crime and Social Media

FILED UNDER: Media, Crime, Social Media

DCentric

Obligatory screen-capture to illustrate that this post is about a popular social networking program.

This is shocking. Washington Post columnist Marc Fisher‘s home was burglarized– and though he wasn’t home when the dastardly deed occurred, he saw the perp’s face:

Sometime between 10 a.m. and 12:45 p.m. Friday, a burglar busted through our basement door — simply kicked through the 80-year-old wood panels — and took a bunch of stuff. My son, 15, got hit hardest; his laptop, iPod, savings bonds and cash were gone.

Just one more example of life in the big city. Except that the apparent thief didn’t stop with taking our belongings.

He felt compelled to showboat about his big achievement: He opened my son’s computer, took a photo of himself sneering as he pointed to the cash lifted from my son’s desk, and then went on my son’s Facebook account and posted the picture for 400 teenagers to see.

Think that chutzpah-powered picture will lead to an easy resolution of this crime? Wrong.

Two officers confided that they and their colleagues rarely press hard on burglary cases because the courts almost always let thieves go with nothing more than probation. Maybe that’s why four days after we handed over the photo, we were still waiting to hear from the detective assigned to the case.

About the author

DCentric was created to examine the ways race and class interact in Washington, D.C., a city with a vibrant mix of cultures and neighborhoods. Your guides to the changing district are reporters Anna John and Elahe Izadi. View all posts by Anna →

  • Judithclaire

    Street smarts include basement door smarts. It is good to put a bar door on the outside of the basement door. That does slow thieves down! The picture on Facebook may help. Offer a reward and some other “kid” may bust down and give someone info!