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Police around the country are using instant messages, text conversations, posts, photos, videos and more to aid criminal investigations, in addition to creating their own department accounts to reach their communities with alerts and updates.

Such investigation methods have come a long way since the days when phone records, followed by text messages and then emails proved to be powerful evidence as police investigations evolved over time. Today, communication and information sharing goes beyond calls and texts with social media, and police departments are utilizing this technology as a tool for fighting crime.

When a South Carolina man was shot in 2013, police used his personal social media account to find that he was recently feuding with two men online.

With that information, police were able to gather a list of suspects as well as potential witnesses who saw the conversations and posts, Greenville Online reports.

Using this information in accordance with video surveillance footage from a nearby building where the shooting took place, police put together the start of an investigation using social media as the building blocks.

Traditionally popular social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter aren’t the only helpful online resources for police, although they are the most frequent with 92 percent of departments using Facebook and 65 percent on Twitter, a 2013 social media survey by the International Association of Chiefs of Police found.

Pinterest helped a California police department re-unite a woman with jewelry stolen from her home during a burglary in 1983. The bracelet, with the names and birthdates of the woman’s three children, was discovered thanks to posts on the department’s Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest page for recovered property.

Police departments are also creating their own social media profiles to keep in touch with their communities. The City of Phoenix Police Department, for example, posts breaking news, alerts, safety tips and more on its Facebook page to keep residents informed.

In some instances, social media helped build a relationship between police and the community. USA Today reports that posts have brought residents and officers together online to identify photos of suspects, name shoplifters and find the owners of lost pets.

In fact, the same 2013 the International Association of Chiefs of Police survey found that more than 73 percent of law enforcement agencies believe social media has improved community relations.

Texas and Arizona are two of nine states currently implementing “No-Refusal” initiatives for DUI stops.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) sponsors special DUI efforts called “No-Refusal” DUI Weekend Initiatives that enforce blood alcohol content testing for those who are arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. Currently, nine states including Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Texas and Utah conduct.

The “No-Refusal” program is an enforcement strategy that allows police to more easily obtain search warrants for blood samples from suspected impaired drivers who have refused to consent to breath tests, the NHTSA said.

During these “No-Refusal” weekends, officers are allowed to request warrants via phone from on-call judges or magistrates.

This enables law enforcement to legally acquire proper blood samples from drivers who refuse to give a breath sample. During these specified enforcement efforts, prosecutors and judges make themselves available to streamline the warrant acquisition process and help build solid cases that can lead to impaired driving convictions.

Under normal DUI checkpoint and arrests circumstances in general, the driver is taken to a hospital for blood to be drawn if a judge issues a warrant for the test. During “No Refusal” initiatives, a registered nurse is at a jail to draw blood onsite.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) criticizes “No-Refusal” policies because they violate the driver’s rights against unreasonable search and seizure. Some judges agree, and refuse to participate in these efforts because of legal uncertainties regarding the mass warrant issuing process.

Others say that “No-Refusal” weekends are like any other day for law enforcement.

“That officer has a legal avenue (of seeking a warrant from a judge) that they can take regardless of the ‘No Refusal’ weekend,” Johnny Poulos, director of public affairs for the Mississippi Highway Patrol, said in USA Today about a recently conducted “No-Refusal” initiative.

The chance of being caught driving drunk, arrested and convicted increase when “No-Refusal” checkpoints are taking place, so efforts are often highly publicized. The public is made aware of the consequences, and judges are notified of the initiatives as well because of the increased amount of calls they will receive from officers for warrants.

Stephen Collins, the pastor father on the TV show “7th Heaven,” faces possible child molestation charges after recordings of the actor admitting to three instances of inappropriate behavior with young girls during a therapy session were released on Oct. 6.

And while some of the allegations are more than 40 years old, the popular actor could still face charges because of how the statute of limitations is applied to such cases.

The allegations could present legal difficulties for Collins, given the fact that his alleged confessions had been taped. TMZ obtained the recordings, which Mark Kaplan, Collins’ attorney, said his estranged wife, actress Faye Grant, must have released since she secretly recorded him and has been using the tape as leverage for money in their divorce case, USA Today reports.

Collins is heard speaking to Grant and to a therapist about exposing himself to three underage girls over the past decade, one of which is suspected by TMZ to be a relative of his first wife, Marjorie Weinman.

Grant told E! News that she recorded the therapy session as part of a request from law enforcement, but was not involved in the release of the tape to the media.

“I woke up today to learn that an extremely private recording I handed over to the authorities in 2012 per their request in connection with a criminal investigation was recently disseminated to the press,” she said.

The Associated Press reports that New York police have an open investigation into allegations that Collins molested a 14-year-old girl in 1972. Police spokesman Stephen David said the complaint was filed in 2012, and remains open although no charges have been filed, according to USA Today.

But while decades have passed since the molestation, Collins may still face charges depending on the statute of limitations surrounding the incident. Since authorities consider the actual crime date to begin when the case is reported, not when it occurs, Collins could face charges for a 42-year-old crime. For example, TMZ reports that the statute of limitations runs from the date of the reporting in 2012 on the New York case, not the date of the illegal act occurring in 1972.

Statutes of limitation vary by state, and are set time limits on how long after a civil or criminal act is reported that charges may be pressed and that a state can make prosecutions. For example, in New York, the statute of limitation for personal injury is two years, but there is no time limit for a rape or murder case.

The Detroit man who argued self defense for shooting and killing an unarmed teen on his front porch was convicted of second-degree murder by a Wayne County jury Thursday, August 7.

Theodore Wafer, a 55-year-old airport worker, heard banging on his front door early in the morning on Nov. 2. He opened the front door of his home and shot Renisha McBride through the locked screen door, killing the 19-year-old student.

Wafer testified saying that he shot McBride in self defense because he feared a break in and was scared for his life, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Why McBride ended up at Wafer’s home that night is still not clear, however prosecutors claim she walked a half mile to his home seeking help after a car accident.

Earlier that night, after consuming alcohol and using marijuana, McBride drove her car into a parked vehicle in Detroit. She was injured at the time, bleeding, disoriented and possibly suffering from concussions, but witnesses said she refused help after the incident, USA Today reports.

Initially, this case sparked racial concerns in Detroit communities where racial tension can be strong, and comparisons were drawn between the McBride and Trayvon Martin cases as both involved unarmed, black teens who were each killed by white men.

Unlike the Trayvon Martin case however, the charges were filed against the defendant within two weeks of McBride’s death and racial concerns were put to rest.

“That could have been anybody’s kid,” said Walter Simmons, McBride’s father, in response to race being a factor in his daughter’s death.

“I think he was ready for whoever came to his door,” Simmons said, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Michigan’s gun laws, such as the Castle Doctrine Law states in short that the use of deadly force may be accepted as an act of self-defense as long as an honest and reasonable belief that death, great bodily harm that may lead to death or sexual assault may result to himself or herself or another individual during a break in, home or business invasion, an unlawful occupation or an attempt to remove individuals from their homes or vehicles, according to the state’s Public Act 311 of 2006.

In other words, residents have the right to protect their homes, businesses and vehicles using firearms, but the severity of the force used must match the potential threat.

A jury of five women and seven men did not believe that circumstances between McBride and Wafer granted Wafer the right to use deadly force against McBride, and they did not accept his self defense claims.

Wafer was convicted of second-degree murder, as well as separate charges of manslaughter and using a firearm to commit a felony, the Wall Street Journal said.

Monica McBride, Renisha’s mother, said that her daughter was not a violent person and that Wafer should have called 911 for assistance when he was awoken.

The sentencing will take place August 25. Wafer could face life in prison, according USA Today.

Make sure you know and understand Arizona’s self defense and violent crime rights. The expert criminal law attorneys at Corso Law Group can help.