Police Using Facebook To Catch Underage Drinkers

Seems that that La Crosse, WI police department has been trolling Facebook for photos of college students drinking and issuing citations for underage drinking.   They’re proud of themselves, too.

University of Wisconsin-La Crosse student Adam Bauer has nearly 400 friends on Facebook. He got an offer for a new one about a month ago. “She was a good-looking girl. I usually don’t accept friends I don’t know, but I randomly accepted this one for some reason,” the 19-year-old said.
He thinks that led to his invitation to come down to the La Crosse police station, where an officer laid out photos from Facebook of Bauer holding a beer — and then ticketed him for underage drinking.

The police report said Bauer admitted drinking, which he denies. But he did plead no contest in municipal court Wednesday and will pay a $227 fine.

…

“Law enforcement has to evolve with technology,” Iverson said. “It has to happen. It is a necessity”

Bang up job, Barney Fife.

Some free advice for these students:

• Don’t post photos of yourself doing illegal things.  This should be a no-brainer.
• Take your birth date off of your Facebook profile.  Others can still upload photos of you and “tag” you in those photos.  Removing your birth date will give the police less of a reason to suspect that you are underage.
• If the police contact you and ask you to “come down to the station,” say “no.”  You are under no obligation to talk to the police.  Please watch this video for more information.
• Never, ever, ever, ever, ever, plead “No Contest” to one of these allegations.  The correct plea is “Not Guilty.”  You do not need to prove your innocence. Instead, the state has the burden of proving you guilty.  And in some cases, the photo may not even be admissible in court. Photographic evidence is inadmissible unless the admitting party can “lay the foundation” for that photograph.  This usually means getting the photographer or someone present at the party to testify in court that the photo accurately represents what they personally witnessed.