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The National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) is training police to track suspects on social networks.

As the public reveals more and more personal information online, detectives are increasingly turning to social networks to find valuable clues. As part of updating its training procedures, the NPIA will now offer guidance on how to conduct investigations online using social media. About 3,500 officers take part in the crime investigator's development programme every year.

A number of disclosures on social networking sites have provided motives in recent murder cases. A series of barbed attacks against chef Adam Mann by his ex-wife on Facebook was used as evidence of motive for her murder. While, in North Carolina, a jilted 62 year old murdered his former girlfriend when she updated her Facebook status to 'engaged' seven months after their relationship had ended.

Craig Lynch, who escaped Hollesey Bay Prison in Suffolk last year towards the end of a seven year-term for aggravated burglary, was dubbed the 'Facebook Fugitive' owing to his regular status updates taunting police for evading their capture. He was eventually arrested in Kent in January after five months on the run. Detectives are currently examining posts on Facebook and Twitter to uncover further information about the murder of 17 year old Marvin Henry in a gang fight in north-west London.

Suspected killers have also been identified through attempts to use social networks to conceal evidence. Suspicions were aroused when it was discovered that the murdered Vicky Couchman's profile on the social networking site Bebo had been updated after her disappearance by her father. He was subsequently charged with her murder but found dead in his prison cell before he was due to stand trial.

Nick Gargan, deputy chief constable and acting chief executive of the NPIA, said: 'This programme is a vital part of the career pathway for detectives and the new training covers sensitive areas of policing where limited guidance existed previously.

'These improvements are exactly what detectives need to tackle the challenges and complexities of modern policing effectively.'

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