Serious question, does web sleuthing hurt real police work?

I believe online detectives often damage cases more than they solve them. For instance, in the Lori Vallow case, internet theories flooded social media and confused the public. Cops had to ignore real leads to deal with fake ones. Others say amateur sleuths bring attention to cold cases, like with the Kristen Smart investigation. But look at how Reddit wrongly named a suspect in the Sun Valley murders. That kind of mistake can ruin lives. So, do you think we should back off or keep digging?

3 comments

3 Comments

umar597d ago

Pretty sure that was the Boston Marathon case actually.

margaretc237d ago

Ran into a buddy who was actually near the finish line that day. He said the chaos was unreal, with people screaming and cops running everywhere. His cousin got trapped in a hotel nearby and couldn't leave for hours. It really shook him up, just hearing the sirens and all the noise. He told me he gets jumpy at big crowds now, which makes sense. Crazy how that day stuck with so many people, lmao.

richard_anderson7d ago

Yeah, that Boston mention reminds me of something that happened in my town. Some online rumors spread after a local break-in, and people zeroed in on this guy who just had a similar truck. My uncle knew him, said the poor guy got harassed for weeks before the cops actually caught the real thief, some kid from two towns over. It just shows how quick people are to point fingers based on nothing.