NYC gangs use Twitter to fight, taunt

NEW YORK, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- New York's criminal youth gangs have turned to Twitter to plan fights and trash-talk rivals, authorities say.

NYPD Lt. Kevin O'Connor of Manhattan North's gang intelligence unit told a forum in Harlem that a boy wounded by a gunshot this year may have been targeted because of a fight that started on the social networking Web site, the New York Daily News reported.

A unnamed police source told the newspaper authorities are monitoring Twitter traffic to generate intelligence on youth gangs.

"It is another tool ... just like old phone records," the source said. "We can go through them (messages) to track these guys."

A unnamed 15-year-old in the 28 Gunnaz gang told the Daily News Twitter is just like any other "form of communication," except that it's conducted in public -- a feature can fuel disputes, with heated online exchanges sometimes turning into a full-fledged fights, he said.