Preventing gun violence: Wayne County specialist to monitor activity on social media
The Brief
Wayne County is hiring people to look over social media for clues about future violence.
The county is looking for someone to scour social media and prevent someone from making a bad decision.
A part of that plan is to find trouble before it starts.
DETROIT (FOX 2) - Wayne County is hiring a brand-new position, looking for someone who is savvy enough to follow clues on social media and act accordingly.
What they're saying
The county is looking for someone to scour social media and prevent someone from making a bad decision, offering resources to make better decisions, and apparently, people are lining up for a chance to do the job.
The idea of the government meeting young people on their turf, social media, was planted years ago in Wayne County.
Trying to get a handle on youth violence.
"Now what do we do about these young people that are, unfortunately, are continuing to either become victims of gun violence or they are resorting to gun violence and resulting in them losing their freedom," said Wayne County Executive Chief of Staff Brian Rinehart. "I can't tell you how many times we've seen that there was a trail on social media that led to what we'll call beef."
A part of that plan is to find trouble before it starts. Enter the Youth Intelligence Specialist.
"This is an original idea we launched here," said Rinehart.
Dig deeper
It is a position being offered by the county is looking for someone with a college degree to monitor posts on social media from young people already caught up in the justice system.
"Make sure that we are monitoring open-facing social media. These are not law enforcement officers," said Rinehart. "They don't have the ability to utilize the tools that law enforcement community would have."
What these specialists can do is offer alternatives, pairing this with the county's Moving Forward program, which offers positive role models—adults who have been through the system as kids and now want to give back.
"Who better to go to these young people and talk to them about making better choices, and we have the data, we have the ability to connect them, and we are very excited about that," said Rinehart. "That is what this program is about."
If these youth intel specialists do come across something that needs police intervention.
"These folks would have the ability that if there is a public safety risk, to refer to law enforcement, and they would handle it from there," said Rinehart. "This team is designed to prevent and deter young people from making poor choices."
Ultimately, though, the goal is simple.
By the numbers
According to county officials, there were a lot of qualified applicants. The job pays between $65,000 to $92,000, and they are going to start with two positions and see where it goes from there.
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