Can an officer of the law legally do this?

[Victarion]

Hey Hype,

I saw a thread on another site that was asking the forum members to fess up to any crimes they'd committed. The OP made it sound like it was supposed to be a competition: "Who's the baddest _______ here?"

One of the posters said "I'll bet you're a cop."

So I'm wondering, if a cop made a thread like that and had posters posting any crimes or whatnot they'd been involved in, could the cop get their IP addresses, track them down, and look into their online claim?

Thanks,

MWA

 

[Spidey-Bat]

I don't think a post on an online message board counts as a legitimate confession.

 

[Victarion]

I didn't think it did, but I wanted to know before my ego landed me in the big prison.

 

[Manic]

2 things...

1. Things said online aren't always admissible in court. Hell, it's debatable whether or not a cop can get an arrest warrant.

2. There's a chance such an incident could be considered entrapment.

But I'm not a lawyer. I won't even start legal studies for another few months.

 

[Spidey-Bat]

It'd probably be a good idea to not brag about your misdeeds on the internet just to be safe.

 

[Motown Marvel]

i highly doubt it would land you in jail or any real legal trouble, unless your "confession" lead to solid evidence of the crime you committed. you'd also have to take into account the statute of limitations. but no, saying you killed someone online will not land you in the slammer.

 

[Master Chief]

Plus there's jurisdiction and s**t, don't sweat it.

 

[chaseter]

I am sure it is different if he confesses to rape or murder or some weird ****.

 

[Timstuff]

I don't think a post on an online message board counts as a legitimate confession.

No, but it could make for compelling evidence in a court case if combined with other evidence. As a general rule of thumb, I say that you should avoid saying things on the internet that you'd be afraid of someone who knows of you in real life seeing, because it can and WILL come back to bite you in the future.

 

[Ahura Mazda]

Actually if they can positively establish you wrote it, it can be used as evidence. Of course, the question is how strong that evidence is.

 

[Majic Walrus]

Hey Hype,

I saw a thread on another site that was asking the forum members to fess up to any crimes they'd committed. The OP made it sound like it was supposed to be a competition: "Who's the baddest _______ here?"

One of the posters said "I'll bet you're a cop."

So I'm wondering, if a cop made a thread like that and had posters posting any crimes or whatnot they'd been involved in, could the cop get their IP addresses, track them down, and look into their online claim?

Thanks,

MWA

The cops can use message board and online posts when trying to prove intent but not as a confession. A confession would need to be given to police while in custody after being read the miranda rights.

Also while cops do use the internet to track down pedophiles (STOP LOOKING AT CP THE FBI IS OUTSIDE!!!) and other crimes of a pervasive sexual nature, I seriously doubt any cop is going to go online to find criminals that are most likely lying about their crimes in order to sound badass.

EDIT: As a side note I think you should probably keep your crimes to yourself. Even if the cops can't arrest you for what you confess to online and while they probably won't go through the hassle of tracking you down... I'd be willing to bet that the next time they pulled you over they'd give you hell. Cops will work on their opinions and instinct and make life hard for you.

 

[Tyrinus]

People never learn. If you are are going to do illegal things, NEVER brag about it.

 

[Master Chief]

WerD.

The best crimes are the ones you never hear about.

 

[Shemtov]

If this was legal i would have gotten a Jewish Gruop to sue stormfront for libel. However, You can do anything on the internet besides Internet murder (Baiting someone into suicide).

 

[Cunning Stunts]

2 things...

1. Things said online aren't always admissible in court. Hell, it's debatable whether or not a cop can get an arrest warrant.

2. There's a chance such an incident could be considered entrapment.

But I'm not a lawyer. I won't even start legal studies for another few months.

QFT. On top of that, they'd have to be able find evidence that would link it to you in the first place. Any kid can go online and say something as little as, "I robbed that liquor store on _____ road last week," and it not mean a thing if there's no evidence or other confessions that could link you to it.

On the contrary however, commonly, some of the dumber criminals tend to brag about what they have done, whether they brag online or to other people. Likewise, if you are even suspect in the slightest, and somehow police officers manage to catch your bragging "confession," you will likely get a visitor holding a badge and a gun at your door pretty soon.

 

[Cunning Stunts]

Hey Hype,

I saw a thread on another site that was asking the forum members to fess up to any crimes they'd committed. The OP made it sound like it was supposed to be a competition: "Who's the baddest _______ here?"

One of the posters said "I'll bet you're a cop."

So I'm wondering, if a cop made a thread like that and had posters posting any crimes or whatnot they'd been involved in, could the cop get their IP addresses, track them down, and look into their online claim?

Thanks,

MWA

They could definitely look into it, but they can't do much until there's evidence linking it to them (like I've stated).

Not being accusatory here, but are you worried that you may have done something, confessed it, and be at threat of investigation because of that thread?

 

[Lunar_Wolf]

I'm a murderer. I left the dead bodies in some cow manure.

 

[Shemtov]

Hey Hype,

I saw a thread on another site that was asking the forum members to fess up to any crimes they'd committed. The OP made it sound like it was supposed to be a competition: "Who's the baddest _______ here?"

One of the posters said "I'll bet you're a cop."

So I'm wondering, if a cop made a thread like that and had posters posting any crimes or whatnot they'd been involved in, could the cop get their IP addresses, track them down, and look into their online claim?

Thanks,

MWA

Link or it didnt happen.

 

[Mike_D202]

I didn't think it did, but I wanted to know before my ego landed me in the big prison.

What the hell did you do??

If its something you know you'll be going to prison for, don't be posting it everywhere on the internet....actually, do it. You probably deserve to get caught if its something that big.

 

[moraldeficiency]

People who brag about crimes are very stupid with very tiny penises (or is it peni?)

 

[Majic Walrus]

2 things...

1. Things said online aren't always admissible in court. Hell, it's debatable whether or not a cop can get an arrest warrant.

2. There's a chance such an incident could be considered entrapment.

But I'm not a lawyer. I won't even start legal studies for another few months.

I doubt it would be considered entrapment; entrapment is when a person is induced or persuaded by law enforcement officers or their agents to commit a crime that he had no previous intent to commit; and the law as a matter of policy forbids conviction in such a case.

For instance if the poll was something like: "Hey everyone go out and do something really bad tonight and then tomorrow we will talk about it." That would be entrapment.