How does law enforcement respond to online threats?
PHOENIX - Since the horrific school shooting in Florida that killed 17 people, students have come forward saying they saw some suspicious social media posts the alleged shooter previously posted.
We wanted to learn more about how our law enforcement is working behind the scenes to find posts like these and prevent them from ever coming to fruition.
"Everyone thinks there's a solution to it, but unfortunately, it's not as simple.. we don't have that kind of authority," said Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone.
Social media is all around us and it's not always used for the greater good.
"We use social network as a society far too often for the wrong reasons and it needs to stop and we need to do a better job raising our children and how we treat each other," said Penzone.
The Sheriff says social media is a powerful tool. It can give us clues and warning signs when someone is upset or threatens to do something. And Penzone says they have detectives looking for those types of people.
More than not, Penzone says the best tips come in from someone who saw something unusual on social media.
"Sometimes through informants, identifying particular sites where dialogue or intention is a little more aggressive."
But Penzone says there's a fine line between freedom of speech and finding probable cause before they can arrest someone.
Of course, if you see something, say something. You never know what you might be preventing.