San Jose police launches 'most wanted' social media pages

SAN JOSE, Calif. - In an innovative way to bring them to justice, the San Jose Police Department has launched social media webpages targeting their most wanted criminals.

San Jose police's homicide unit announced Monday they've launched Facebook and Instagram pages searching for their most wanted fugitives.

They hope to increase awareness about "the most dangerous felons" wanted for past homicides and other crimes who remain on the run, including about some who may have left the country to avoid prosecution and lying low.

SJPD PIO Stacie Shih said the webpages will be updated regularly with photos and descriptions for people they are looking for, hoping these updates can also bring in new leads.

"This really is just kind of a new platform that we need to use to find outstanding, dangerous violent criminals that we have identified as outstanding," Stacie Shih said, PIO with SJPD.

"Somebody out there knows these people and they can go on Facebook or Instagram and see exactly what they look like," said CEO of ConnectSafely Larry Magid. 

Magid said the new pages will give SJPD a global audience.