Super sleuths targeting rioters

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 07/08/2011 (5277 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

VANCOUVER — The online rage and name-calling that flooded Facebook after the June 15 Stanley Cup riot has now subsided.

Still, a handful of Facebookers continue to pore over dozens of hours of footage to try to identify the perpetrators of last month’s mayhem.

They post their findings to the Facebook Vancouver Riot Pics group, which has more than 101,100 “Likes.” One of the core members estimates that close to 300 rioters have been identified on the group’s page.

“We’re doing this on blind faith that it’s helping the process,” said 51-year-old Lee Timar. “I think what we’re doing probably helps facilitate (people turning themselves in).

“People may be going on the site and thinking, ‘Oh, there I am.’”

On Thursday, 1,594 photos had been uploaded from YouTube screen captures and suspected rioters’ Facebook profiles, as well as collages of individual rioters — which Timar and a team of several other diehard amateur sleuths have contributed.

“Basically what we do is we watch the videos, look for somebody (allegedly) committing an offence, and if there is a clear face shot then we just take a snapshot from the video and put links to the video so that police or other people can see where that actually came from,” Timar said. “So there’s a direct link to the actual (alleged) offence, not just a static snapshot of somebody with their arms in the air.”

Timar, an IT professional between jobs right now, said that after watching the riots unfold on TV he began looking at some of the photos posted online. Before he knew it he was spending up to 12 hours a day scouring YouTube for images to try to prove people’s participation in the riot.

“I started looking at some of the photos and realized by getting involved it was a way to contribute.”

He said he had been looking for a way to give something back to society and jumped at the opportunity to help a police force facing an enormous amount of digital evidence.

“I think it’s frustrating for everybody as to how slowly it seems to be going, with no charges coming forth,” Timar said. “But for those of us involved in identifying people, we know how much work it takes for the police to bring it all together and really create their case.”

Richard Rosenberg, professor emeritus of computer science at UBC, said the anonymity of the Internet allows people like Timar to portray themselves as guardians of Vancouver’s reputation, but it also cloaks their motives.

“I suspect most are quite honest, but some in that group want to portray themselves as pseudo-police,” said Rosenberg, who is also the president of the B.C. Freedom of Information and Privacy Association. “I’m being a little harsh here, but given that there’s a substantial number of people doing this, it’s not unreasonable for one to be suspicious of the motives of these people.”

Rosenberg said the Facebook group’s activities are not unusual in a medium like the Internet.

“(Online) you’re going to find people doing almost anything for any reason you could conceive of for any length of time.”

So far 37 people have turned themselves in to police and, while no one has been formally charged, up to 1,700 potential suspects have been flagged by police for more than 202 separate incidents.

Const. Lindsey Houghton said the Integrated Riot Investigation Team is thankful for the help of people like Timar, but cautioned that the online sleuthing could create real risks.

“There has been a lot of anger and angst over all of the photos and names in social media,” Houghton said. “We’d certainly hate to see someone who’s innocent until proven guilty be the victim of anything themselves.”

— Postmedia News