Good Question: How often do ‘attempt to identify’ posts lead to an arrest?

Good Question: How often do ‘attempt to identify’ posts lead to an arrest?

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — If you follow local law enforcement on social media, you may have seen posts asking for the public’s help with finding suspects. The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office has posted hundreds of images online with the title “attempt to identify.”

A viewer, John, asked, “MCSO, Greece PD, NYSP, maybe some others post photos of suspects they want to identify/arrest. I like the idea. Was just wondering percentage wise how successful this is for them.”

The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office says about 60% of those posts lead to a tip about the identity of the suspect and many of those tips lead to an arrest. The sheriff’s office says that, from July 1, 2023 to Dec. 31, 2023, a little more than 32% of posts resulted in an arrest.

“In that six month period, we’ve put up 149 posts of different crimes, and of that, there were 214 suspects that were displayed in those posts, because sometimes you have two or three suspects in one post,” said Sgt. CJ Zimmerman on a podcast. “In just six months time, we received tips on 92 of those 149 posts.”

Zimmerman went on to say that from those 149 posts, 34 different people were charged with crimes. In the following six months, between Jan. 1 and June 18 of this year, so far 26% of posts have resulted in an arrest.

News10NBC also reached out to the Greece Police Department and the New York State Police with the same question, but was told they do not track that data.

If you see a post and think you can help, just follow its instructions. Usually, it will ask you to send an email or call a tip line. Remember, you can always remain anonymous.

If you have a good question you’d like answered, send an email to goodquestion@whec.com.

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