Police use Facebook to help distraught teen

For all the bad news stories we often follow about teens and social media, this one was a more helpful news report in recent days that I meant to post earlier. Teen’s remark on Facebook sends cops into social media action to save a life: A social media thread proved strong enough to pull a New Jersey teenager back from possible suicide, according to authorities. And it was a social networking first for officers from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Department — using Facebook and other outlets this week to track down and help a troubled 18-year-old whose three-word online posting seemed to say suicide. “Thinking of jumping,” the teenager posted to his Facebook profile, alongside a photo of the George Washington Bridge spanning the Hudson River. A concerned Facebook friend who saw the post contacted police in Paterson, New Jersey, alerting authorities to the apparent suicide threat, according to Port Authority spokesman Joe Pentangelo. Authorities first downloaded a photo of the teen and distributed it to officers to seek him out while searching the bridge. The teen wasn’t found there. Meanwhile, a Port Authority sergeant and another officer assigned to Port Authority police’s emergency services reached out through the teen’s Facebook page, one leaving a cell phone number on the page, as the teen’s friends – witnessing what was happening – urged their friend to call the officer. Within a couple of hours, the officer received a call from the teen and the two met in person to talk. In the end, the teen agreed to be taken to a local hospital for assistance, according to CNN. source:LI