Surveillance Technology and Amateur Sleuths: A New Era in Crime Solving

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — More than a decade ago, a frenzied 5-day search for the Boston Marathon bombers left some lessons in its aftermath.

One was that increasingly pervasive surveillance technology could help catch the culprits. Another was that amateur online sleuths on Reddit could not.

But the intense search this week for a suspect in a Brown University shooting that killed two students and wounded nine other people turned the tables on those expectations.

The Role of Surveillance Technology

Sweeping surveillance, now found in doorbells, cars and a vast network of vehicle-tracking cameras, did eventually help track down the whereabouts of Claudio Neves Valente, the 48-year-old former Brown graduate student investigators believe was responsible for the Dec. 13 shooting and another killing two days later of an MIT professor in Brookline, Massachusetts.

But the latest artificial intelligence-powered surveillance was of little use in the early search for a gunman who walked away from the Brown campus after the shooting and slipped unnoticed into the surrounding neighborhoods of Providence, Rhode Island. He evaded detection for days, using a hard-to-trace phone, avoiding facial recognition software by obscuring his face with a medical-type mask and switching the license plates on his rental cars.

The Breakthrough: A Local Reddit User

It wasn’t until a local Reddit user “blew this case right open” with an old-fashioned tip first posted on the social media platform that police were able to connect a car to Neves Valente, said Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha. They finally found the suspect dead Thursday in Salem, New Hampshire, days after he likely killed himself.

The Reddit tipster known only as John is “no less than a hero,” Providence Mayor Brett Smiley wrote Friday to FBI Director Kash Patel, asking for John to get the entirety of the FBI’s $50,000 reward for information leading investigators to the suspect.

A Stark Turn from the Past

It was a stark turn from 2013 when commentators on Reddit and other online discussion boards falsely smeared a Brown University student as a potential suspect in the deadly attack at Boston’s famed marathon, just an hour north of Providence, because of a supposed resemblance to a grainy suspect image.

“Hey Reddit, enough Boston bombing vigilantism,” declared a headline in The Atlantic at the time.

“It definitely went sideways in the Boston Marathon situation,” said Liza Potts, a professor at Michigan State University and director of a digital humanities lab that studied the online response. “That’s why folks will jokingly refer to the ‘Reddit Detective Agency’ or the ‘Reddit Bureau of Investigations.’”

Lessons Learned

The mistaken connection between the 2013 bombers and a missing Brown student — who was later found dead of an apparent suicide — is still remembered by many at the Ivy League school and its surrounding community.

Brown officials this week sought to swiftly tamp down another smear campaign circulating on X and other social media platforms falsely tying a current Brown student to the campus shooting because of his ethnicity, perceived political views and supposed resemblance to a police video of a person of interest. The “unimaginable nightmare” of false accusations led to “non-stop death threats and hate speech,” the student said in a statement.

The Role of Social Media

Frustrated that tip lines could be jammed with nonsense, U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat and former state attorney general, urged social media speculators to “just shut up.”

“There is simply no need from an investigative point of view for people who have no idea what they’re talking about to offer their stupid and ill-informed views about what happened all over the internet,” Whitehouse said from Congress on Wednesday.

But Potts said some social media has been working better than others, and “of all the spaces that I study, Reddit seems to be getting it right more than not.”

Reddit’s Success

Harmful accusations were largely absent from Reddit’s Providence forum, in part because volunteer moderators who manage Reddit’s subject matter forums — known as subreddits — are largely responsible for keeping the peace.

Reddit’s chief moderator for the Providence subreddit said in an interview that he’s been on the platform for about 15 years and remembers the trauma that false Boston Marathon report caused.

“The Providence subreddit is very sensitive about (not) trying to go on a witch hunt or the mob mentality,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid doxing and because of the platform’s culture of anonymity.

The Investigation

The Associated Press also reached out to the tipster on Tuesday, a day after he wrote on Reddit urging police to look into a Nissan sedan with Florida license plates. Fellow Redditors urged him to contact the FBI, and he said he did.

He didn’t respond to requests for comment and later posted that he doesn’t plan to talk with media. When he finally met with police on Wednesday — after approaching them on the street and identifying himself as the Reddit tipster — his information gave new life to a stalled investigation.

Surveillance Cameras

With a known vehicle, Providence police started looking through the footage from dozens of AI-powered cameras positioned around the city that can read license plates as well as other identifying details about a car, such as make, color, side damage or even bird droppings on the window.

The cameras, run by surveillance company Flock Safety, spotted his vehicle at least 14 times starting nearly two weeks before the shooting, according to a police affidavit. Providence police could then ask Flock-using police agencies in nearby cities and states to look for the same car, although New Hampshire — because of privacy restrictions on how long they can hold images — doesn’t have any.

Conclusion

The case highlights the importance of surveillance technology and amateur sleuths in solving crimes. While surveillance cameras and AI-powered technology can be useful tools, they are not foolproof and can be evaded. It was the old-fashioned tip from a local Reddit user that ultimately led to the breakthrough in the case.

The success of Reddit in this case is a testament to the power of social media in facilitating communication and collaboration. However, it also highlights the need for caution and responsible behavior on social media platforms to avoid spreading misinformation and harming innocent individuals.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What was the role of surveillance technology in the investigation?

A: Surveillance technology, including AI-powered cameras and license plate readers, played a significant role in the investigation, but it was not the sole factor in solving the case. The cameras were able to track the suspect’s vehicle, but it was the tip from a local Reddit user that ultimately led to the breakthrough.

Q: How did the Reddit user contribute to the investigation?

A: The Reddit user, known as John, posted a tip on the platform about a suspicious vehicle, which was then shared with the police. The police were able to use this information to track down the suspect and solve the case.

Q: What can be learned from this case about the use of social media in investigations?

A: This case highlights the importance of responsible behavior on social media platforms and the need for caution when sharing information. It also demonstrates the potential for social media to facilitate communication and collaboration in investigations, but also the potential for misinformation and harm to innocent individuals.