‘Police dismiss digital threat’ of social media abuse as 'just kids on Facebook'

Police dismissed abuse on social media as “just kids on Facebook” and asked what victims “expect us to do about it”, a new report has revealed.

Watchdogs raised concerns about responses to anti-social behaviour online, which has emerged as a growing problem with a flurry of high-profile cases of so-called “trolling”.

A report by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) found some officers and staff were dismissive of complaints about the misuse of social media sites.

Remarks included “what do they [the victim] expect us to do about it?” and “I do not use social media; how am I supposed to investigate it?”

In relation to a domestic abuse incident, researchers were told that an individual “will not carry out the threat to stab her; otherwise he would not have posted the threat online”.

The study said: “These comments demonstrate a worrying lack of understanding both of the threat and risk to the victim and, as a consequence, a failure positively to support them.”

It cited an example of a teenage girl subjected to abuse through her social networking account. At the height of her despair, she decided to take an overdose before finally seeking help which enabled her to continue with her life.

The report said this was not an isolated example, adding: “It is, therefore, all the more disturbing that one officer told us: ‘it is just kids on Facebook’.

Such a response is indefensible.”

The issue of abuse online has emerged alongside the explosion in popularity of Facebook and Twitter.

Earlier this year, figures revealed that convictions for crimes under a law to prosecute internet “trolls” have increased eight-fold in a decade.

The HMIC study into the effect of digital technology on crime and policing also highlighted complaints from officers about the length of time it takes for devices to be examined.

It said this had an impact on the willingness of victims to co-operate because often their social life is organised through gadgets.

Some forces have resorted to outsourcing the examination of devices to private firms, with one spending more than £180,000 in a year.

The study found very few police officers and staff who “understood either their own roles and responsibilities or those of their force” in relation to the investigation of fraud.

Case studies generally suggest officers appear to have difficulty empathising with the victim’s situation, because of “their lack of awareness of the digital lives that some people lead”.