What the tech? Social media for fun, work, fighting crime

(Photo illustration by Ted Schnell • BocaJump)

First in a series

By Ted Schnell • BocaJump | Monday, July 2, 2012

It’s no secret that since at least 2007, criminals have been using Facebook, Twitter and other social media to plan burglaries, to stalk ex-girlfriends, and even, in one extreme case in 2007, to bully a child badly enough that she committed suicide.

What the tech? EPD is online to fight crime

Elgin police Detective Mark Whaley looks over a
Facebook page. Police have added social media
to their arsenal of investigative tools used to solve
crime. (Ted Schnell • BocaJump)

Second in a series

By Ted Schnell • BocaJump | Tuesday, July 3, 2012

When someone vandalized two memorials on Elgin’s downtown riverfront last week, it was social media that eventually called police attention to the incident. Within a matter of hours, city crews had cleaned up the damage.

What the tech? Protecting yourself online

(Photo illustration by Ted Schnell • BocaJump)

Third of three

By Ted Schnell • BocaJump | Wednesday, July 4, 2012

That waterskiing photo you posted to your Facebook page — the pic from the Wisconsin Dells — seemed like a fun idea at the time. You let all your friends know just how much fun you’re having on your vacation.

Two Batavia men charged in Elgin bank heist

These Elgin State Bank security photos were posted

on the FBI's http://bandittrackerchicago.com website.

By Ted Schnell • BocaJump | Jan. 20, 2012

Federal charges were filed Friday against two Batavia men accused of concealing their faces and brandishing handguns to rob an Elgin bank on Wednesday evening.

Douglas Kelley, 27, and Lucas G. Marin, 29, both of Batavia, were each charged with one count of bank robbery, a felony, in a criminal complaint filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Chicago.

Prigge speaks out against racism allegations, innuendo

Councilman breaks council silence to defend police

John Prigge

By Ted Schnell • BocaJump | Oct. 28, 2011

Councilman John Prigge said Thursday he simply had had enough when he decided Wednesday night to break the Elgin City Council’s silence over “unfounded accusations and innuendo” about racism in the Elgin Police Department.

Stressing that he had been speaking on his own behalf Wednesday night and not on behalf of the council, Prigge said Thursday he had been biting his tongue each time the issue was raised publicly during recent City Council meetings.

The allegations erupted over the summer when Elgin police Lt. Sean Rafferty was suspended for five days without pay. The suspension order censured Rafferty over a 14-year-old photograph and over an incident in 2009 or 2010 when a “race-based joke” was sent as a text message to a black fellow officer. Rafferty is white.

Wowway joins 911 call probe

Published Arpil 20, 2011
By Ted Schnell • BocaJump
It appears that a technical glitch within phone service provider Wowway’s system may be to blame for rerouting an Elgin man’s 911 call to Lake County, Ind., on April 12.

Elgin police on Tuesday worked with the resident to see if they could repeat the rerouting glitch, something police Sgt. Dennis Hood initially had not been optimistic about being able to do, believing it likely it was rare and not likely to be repeated.

Elgin 911 call directed to Indiana

Published Arpil 12, 2011

By Ted Schnell • BocaJump

Elgin police and a sheriff's office in Indiana are looking into a potential glitch that misdirected an Elgin 911 call early Tuesday to a dispatch center in Crown Point, Ind.

The call was made about 12:45 a.m. Tuesday by an Elgin man reporting that he heard what he believed to have been five or more shotgun blasts in the area of his southwest-side home.