Police probe Facebook harassment cases

More than 200 cases of harassment committed on Facebook were investigated by West Midlands Police over the past year.

Death threats, racial harassment and religious abuse were among the crimes carried out by users of the social networking site. Police said a lot of cases related to younger people calling each other names.

Insp Simon Guilfoyle, from the force, urged parents to think before they pick up the phone to report more minor incidents to police. "There has been an explosion in these kinds of offences," he said.

"Kids being mean to each other is unpleasant, but a lot of it is brought into the policing world when it shouldn't be."

Figures released to the Express & Star show that between February last year and and January 31 this year, 236 offences involving Facebook were reported to police. These included putting people in fear of violence, racially or religiously aggravated harassment and threats to kill.

Eighteen offences were reported in Wolverhampton, 21 in Walsall, 30 in Sandwell and nine in Dudley. A further 106 were reported in Birmingham while others came from the wider West Midlands.

Insp Guilfoyle said some cases are often resolved with the offer of an apology from the offender to the victim.

"There have also been cases in which we have had to arrange statements, arrest youngsters, contact Facebook and seize computers," he said. "These investigations can go on for weeks and months, when they could be resolved on the spot. It impacts on our technical ability to investigate more serious offences."

Insp Guilfoyle said people receiving threats should "block" the person sending the messages. "We have to look at each individual case on its merits," he added.

"If there are sinister overtones, potentially adults grooming young children, then we'd urge people to contact police. Likewise, if there is a genuine threat of violence and a person feels like they're in immediate danger, call police."

By Shaun Jepson