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Asbury Park Press

TUESDAY 01.20.15

CONVERSATION
ABOUT RACE
Has racism declined or grown
since Martin Luther King Jr.s
day, and whats to be done? A3
Celebrating King: Brenda Jackson of
Neptune speaks at the Second Baptist
Church of Toms Rivers holiday service.
TOM SPADER/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

POLICE USING RADAR TO SEE THROUGH WALLS PAGE 1B

YOURE NOT ALONE,

BIG BROTHER IS
PRESS FILE PHOTO

Even lighter snowfall can complicate motorists rides on

darkened roads, as seen on Burnt Tavern Road in Brick late last
winter.

Snow may
affect Wed.
evenings
commute

WATCHING
Sheriff monitoring
threats put online
ERIK LARSEN
@ERIK_LARSEN

TOMS RIVER The next time you post a

message or status update to social media,
choose your words carefully: The Ocean
County Sheriffs Office is watching.
Since the fall, the Sheriffs Office has
been using software called Geofeedia to
monitor and collect all tweets, Facebook
posts and other social media posts sent
from smartphones and other mobile devices inside Ocean County, with an eye toward thwarting crime. Other law enforcement offices do the same, though
most are reluctant to talk about their efforts.
Its not the NSA, quipped Sheriff Michael G. Mastronardy, in reference to the
international furor that erupted in 2013
over the National Security Agencys

Shore area could get

as much as 2-3 inches
TODD B. BATES @TODDBBATESAPP

Freezing rain led to hundreds of accidents Sunday.

Now get ready for snow on Wednesday, according to
forecasters.
A National Weather Service snowfall forecast map
posted Monday showed as much as 2 to 3 inches of snow
falling in Monmouth and Ocean counties and as much as
3 to 4 inches in North Jersey.
The forecast is tricky because 2 to 4 inches of snow
can be disruptive if its going to be during the evening
rush hour, said David A. Robinson, the New Jersey state
climatologist. But an inch or two that too can cause
problems, but it doesnt necessarily bring out plows.
Any way you look at it, it doesnt look like a crippling
event, said Robinson, a snow cover expert and geography professor at Rutgers University. For that, you need
4 to 6 inches plus or an ice storm like (Sundays) horrific
event.
One man was seriously injured Monday as authorities in Ocean and Monmouth counties reported a number of motor-vehicle accidents on ice-coated roadways.
Kristin Kline, a meteorologist in the weather services Mount Holly office, said Sundays freezing rain I
guess in a way overperformed. The cold air lingered
longer than forecasters expected, and the rain arrived a
little sooner than anticipated, leading to more freezing
rain than expected, she said.
An Alberta clipper is forecast to move through the
Ohio Valley tonight and re-form off the Delmarva peninsula Wednesday, according to the weather service. An

See WATCHING, Page A5

FRANK GALIPO/SPECIAL TO THE PRESS

Ocean County Sheriff Michael G. Mastronardy

uses software (displayed on his computer) to
actively monitor social media for any signs of
criminal activity and of people in distress.

Cops harnessing social media to catch criminals

See SNOW, Page A4

STEPH SOLIS @STEPHMSOLIS

It doesnt look like a crippling event.

For that, you need 4 to 6 inches plus or
an ice storm like (Sundays) horrific
event.
DAVID A. ROBINSON, NEW JERSEY STATE CLIMATOLOGIST

Automakers revving up
CarPlay to sync your ride
with your iPhone.
Tech Tuesday, A6

In just a matter of hours, a Facebook post in December led Brick police to a suspect in a debit-card fraud
case.
The township police department asked its Facebook followers for help in the investigation, sharing a
photograph of the perpetrator taken in a local convenience store.
Dozens of tips were phoned into police. One man,
using the comments section of Facebook, even de-

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SEAHAWKS
NOT SO SUPER?
Seattle needs to
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SIRI
ON THE
ROAD

chance vs. New

England in the big
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ADVICE
CLASSIFIED
COMICS
LOCAL
LOTTERIES
OBITUARIES
OPINION
SPORTS
TECH TUESDAY
WEATHER

D7
D8
D6
A3
A2
A10
A13
C1
A6
C8

scribed where the suspect lived and worked. Within 24

hours, Brick police announced the arrest of a 34-yearold Toms River man on debit-card fraud charges, crediting social media users for their sleuthing.
Other law enforcement agencies are seeing success
in crimefighting thanks to social media:
A Facebook post from the New Jersey State Police
led to the arrest of three Howell men on burglary
charges.
See SOCIAL, Page A4

VOLUME 136, NUMBER 17

SINCE1879

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