NYPD Says Fake Facebook Accounts Okay

An NYPD car is stationed in Times Square on July 20, 2012 in New York City. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

NEW YORK—In a memo issued by Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly last week, officers may now register aliases through the department for social media investigations, according to the NY Daily News.

Officers would use department-issued laptops with Internet access cards that could not be traced back to the New York Police Department, allowing them to scout the Internet undercover, the newspaper reported.

The memo also states that officers can use subpoenas, court orders, or search warrants to obtain electronic evidence, according to the Daily News. These guidelines were issued with the increased usage of social media for police investigations.

Critics of these rules are worried about what level of monitoring these police alias accounts will be

The NYPD did not respond by press time.

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