As I trudged through my Facebook News Feed this morning, I came across the grainy photo of a young boy donned in Maple Leafs and Flames gear staring up at the camera. He looked like Justin Bieber, so I give it little thought until I noticed the caption - "IF YOU SEE THIS GUTLESS LITTLE SHIT BIKING DOWNTOWN, HE JUST STOLE FROM US." Intrigued by the possibility that Justin Bieber had stolen from a trendy clothing store in Peterborough, Ontario, I had to look further.
I will admit that I was disappointed to find out Mr. One Less Lonely Girl wasn't the real culprit, but I was fascinated and a little disturbed by what I did find. A small, independent clothing store in Peterborough had instantly grabbed a photo from its surveillance camera, thrown it onto Instagram and posted it to Facebook. The photo claimed that the kid had just stolen some hats from the store and encouraged anybody who saw the kid to immediately call the store itself.
As social media inherently does, the photo spread like wildfire. I was privy to plenty of comments from shoppers updating everyone else as to the kid's whereabouts. Other store owners were quick to substantiate the claims of theft by pointing out that plenty of young kids had stolen merchandised, including the very kid in the photo. And within an hour of posting the picture, the young man had been apprehended.
In some ways, this was very cool. Shoplifters can be the bane of retailers, particularly those selling high-priced fashion in a relatively small city. When it comes to kids, it can be especially difficult to nab them. There was a time where photos of shoplifters would only be thrown up behind the store's cash register to remind employees, but with social media, the photo gets around very quickly. There is no need to wait the for the relatively slow response of the police, who have plenty of other things to deal with. For independent store owners, social media can provide a great tool to take matters into their own hands and protect themselves from shoplifters.
But that's where this gets a little disturbing. I want store owners to be able to protect themselves, but do we want them taking matters into their own hands? I hope this store also reported the incident to police, but if they didn't, this would amount to little more than vigilante justice. After all, the Instagram post goes farther and recommends calling the store itself (no mention of police) and indicates that an employee is lacing up his shoes for a chase.
Say all you want about the inefficiencies of police, but encouraging people to take the law into their own hands can be far more dangerous. And what happens when an adult runs down an alleged thief? Again, say what you want about use of excessive force by police, but something tells me that an angry and wronged shopkeeper caught up in the moment might not treat their catch with care. There are provisions in the Criminal Code that allow for citizen's arrest and shopkeepers have been detaining shoplifters for eons, but these powers are limited and any police officer will highly recommend leaving law enforcement to the professionals. Such advice is all the more rational when a store owner has insurance to deal with theft.
Another disturbing aspect of the use of social media is the posting of the kid's picture online. He appears to be a minor. There is certainly an interest in nabbing the kid and protecting other stores, but is it worth spreading the photo all over the internet? The internet has a better memory than any one on earth, and who knows if this could end up biting him in the butt later on. There are reasons that the criminal justice system has publication bans on names and photos of minors involved in criminal action. And what happens if you are wrong? Wrongly accusing someone of theft and throwing their photo online could prove far more costly than not getting your hat back. I don't mean to doubt the charges laid by the store keepers, but the risks of emotional and knee-jerk reactions are exponentially increased with social media.
And shortly after one thoughtful commenter questioned the use of the photo and the attacks by other commenters, the entire thread has mysteriously disappeared from Facebook. It is still on Instagram, but for the reasons I mentioned above, it's probably a good idea not to spread it.
Social media continues to wield its double-edged sword.
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