Why Do Criminals Post On Facebook?

Why do criminals post on Facebook?

by Peter Hyatt 

Why do criminals post on Facebook?   Why is this important in Statement Analysis?

                                                                   The reason is singular.

Recently, a 16 year old girl went missing.  She met up with a 31 year old male, of whom she met online.  He posted a picture of them, together, on Facebook.  They were found and he was arrested.

Several young thugs stole $5000 and broke into a car, took out an iPad, and recorded themselves boasting and flashing the money before the camera. They were boasting of their "one night's work" reward of cash.

They were soon after posing for mug shots.

We are communicative creatures.  We have been created to communicate.  When we do not communicate, we go insane.

This is key to not only Statement Analysis, but it is key in Interviewing and in Investigation.

When I am asked to interview someone of whom investigators believe "did it", I always tell the team the same thing:

"I will get the information you seek.  He will tell me everything we want to know."

This is not an infomercial or a confidence booster.  It is not me bragging.

 It is a fact of human nature.

The person sitting across the table from me, who "did it", wants to tell me what he did.  He does not like the pressure on his brain to not tell me, and he does not want to lie outright.  Over the years, my faith in this facet of the Statement Analysis system has steadfastly grown.  Even while being deceptive, the worse case scenario that I have ever encountered is this:

The subject did not lie to me, but withheld the key points of information.

In doing so, he will give linguistic signals of suppressed information.  His words, however, even without the critical information, will guide me.

I have confidence that not only does he want to talk, but he has a biological need to talk.  We all do.

I have just as much confidence that when he talks, and he suppresses or withholds the critical information, he will both:
a.  Give signals of withholding information
b.  Use specific words that will guide me to the truth.

In law enforcement seminars, this is where I begin.  I state that a person can barely lie, and how rare it is.

Most will struggle to believe me, having been lied to over and over, on the street, in interviews, on traffic stops and so on.  But when they learn that the outright lies are almost non-existent and that deception comes from withheld information, they realize that:

a.  They can solve the crime
b.  The subject wants to communicate
c.  The subject has to choose words to communicate
d.  These words chosen, so very quickly, will guide them to the truth
e...

and that lie detection is not magic, but it is hard work, some are willing to go the extra mile, and put in not only the effort of learning, but the bigger effort:

practicing their new found skills.

Those that have good intuitive skills begin with a good start, and those with humility and intuitive skills go even further.

Criminals post on Facebook and other areas because they have a biological need to communicate.  The one thing that none of us is able to resist is talking about what we did.

Try it sometime.

If you find someone reluctant to speak, ask him or her to tell you what they did today.

They will have a hard time resisting.

In the above photo, Tammy Moorer posted a hateful rant against victim, Heather Elvis.  This form of open hatred of the victim by the alleged perpetrator is 'against the odds' in Statement Analysis.  We most always find subtle words of hatred by the guilty, and not such open defiance.  Although we deal in percentages and expectations, this post is a reminder that the odds of even 90%, still mean that the 10% can be encountered.  It is the exception.

Principle is not established on exception.  The 'norm' is for the perpetrator to find more subtle ways of blaming the victim.  In Tammy Moorer's case, we are looking at a sociopath, as revealed in her statements in the press, calloused nature towards the victim, as well as the many other narcissistic posts she has made to various social media.

In the case of Cynthia Witlatch, the Seattle police did nothing about her falsely arrested the 70 year old male, who spend a night in jail.  He is a vet, and has no record.

It was only when she posted on Facebook that Seattle police took action.

Regarding her lie:

She fabricated reality.   See upcoming article...