‘Facecrook’ created by New Jersey sheriff’s office to catch criminals

GlobalPost

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The Bergen County Sheriff's Office in New Jersey has launched a website called "Facecrook" that allows citizens to report sightings of wanted criminals via social media, The Associated Press reported.

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Developed in response to ongoing budget issues, the site is the brainchild of Inspector Mickey Bradley, who bought the domain, faccrook.us, for $17 about a year ago. He believes it's the first of its kind in the country, according to the International Business Times.

"We believe it's going to lower our warrant count," Bradley told The Record newspaper.

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Facecrook lists active county warrants, along with pictures of fugitives and a link to an interactive map showing where they were last seen. Users can also search for fugitives by name, street address, town and ZIP code and call the sheriff's office tip line to send an anonymous text message.

The site includes a "do not apprehend" warning to discourage people from vigilantism, according to the AP.

“We make it clear on the site that we don’t want anyone to approach these people,” sheriff's office spokesman Richard Moriarty told The Record.

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