The seedy side of society is no longer limited to street corners and alleys for passing along threats, warnings and tip-offs. Much of it is being done in cyberspace.

That's the same electronic universe that chatty youngsters also crack open with passwords, and where they talk about anything and everything with each other or strangers.

Sometimes, they brag about nefarious deeds or cough up the monikers of gang members or criminal suspects.

"Kids, they will talk about everything to their friends, and they are very bold about it," said Capt. Ron Nelson with the Ventura County Sheriff's Department. "They throw it up on Myspace.com thinking that nobody will read it (but) Myspace is there for the whole world to see."

As the world is watching and gabbing away, detectives from Ventura County are mining these chat rooms and personal networking Web sites such as Myspace.com and Facebook.com.

Police troll for clues, tips or evidence to help them investigate crimes, including homicides, rapes, graffiti vandalism, under-age drinking and other offenses — some of them gang-related, Nelson said.

"We use Myspace every day," he said, adding that at least two Sheriff's Department detectives use it as an investigative tool on a daily basis.

Myspace.com is a very popular and personal networking service that is used daily by millions of people.

Nelson said Myspace.com officials have cooperated with law enforcement officials who, armed with search warrants, attempt to retrieve information about accounts.

About a dozen of the 134 search warrants issued to police in Ventura County since September have been for Myspace.com, Craigslist or Yahoo e-mail accounts.

Detectives also troll other Web sites such as eBay.com to get the lowdown on street gossip, learn the monikers of gang members or find out who calls the shots in criminal street gangs or tagging crews, Nelson said.

Keeping an eye on taggers

Two search warrant affidavits recently filed by Oxnard police officers document two separate criminal cases involving two tagging crews that are accused of doing damage with cans of spray paint in Newbury Park, Oxnard, Thousand Oaks and Ventura.

Police say they examine Myspace.com accounts used by tagging-crew gang members and collect information on such things as the graffiti monikers or "tags" identifying taggers, and the times and dates of their electronic communication, including some claiming credit for specific incidents.

One tagger is accused of nine separate incidents of tagging in Oxnard this year and causing more than $400 of damage in each incident.

Detectives point out that graffiti vandals have become increasingly violent and are suspected of using firearms, knives, bats, pipes, brass knuckles, pepper spray, screwdrivers and BB guns.

Oxnard Detective Christopher Williams says in a search warrant affidavit that one tagging crew, whose members post and communicate with each other on Myspace.com, has a large membership "ranging from Fresno all the way south to the border with Mexico. Some members live in Arizona and Las Vegas. One member who is most likely responsible for a homicide has been linked to family in Missouri, Illinois and Washington. Locally, the membership numbers around 40 members. Statewide, the membership may be as many as over 200," Williams wrote.

He noted in his search warrant affidavit that it is increasingly common for taggers to use the Internet to threaten and challenge rivals, display graffiti and recruit members.

"It is a logical forum because gang members have access to computers in schools and public libraries, and can enter online chat rooms and message boards," Williams wrote.

Colonia Chiques, Oxnard's largest criminal street gang, has a Web site on Myspace.com that includes photographs of gang members along with death threats against rival gang members, whose photographs are shown with their faces crossed out.

Videos used as evidence

Police milk the Web site for intelligence. On the same site, a rap music video features tattooed and shaved-head gang members. Prosecutors have shown the video to jury members as evidence in gang-related criminal cases in Ventura County.

Officials say the video, along with such things as gang scrawling or photographs, can be shown in court to legally establish that the gang exists. Gang involvement can result in more years being tacked on to a sentence for a felony conviction.

Evidence gathered by police from Web sites has sometimes been instrumental in helping detectives make solid cases against graffiti taggers, said prosecutor Robert Denton.

"Obviously, it's case by case as to the quality of the information. But sometimes it can be very helpful, especially when a criminal is communicating with another criminal," said Denton, who prosecutes graffiti vandals in Ventura County.

Law enforcement officials are starting to educate parents and youngsters about the pros and cons of surfing the Net and entering chat rooms where criminals, including sexual predators, linger.

Senior Deputy Sheriff Julie Novak, who is coordinating a free, new Web site education program for parents and youngsters, said she is surprised that people even post college or job applications or nude photographs on Web pages.

"You are creating a permanent electronic footprint," she said.

Millions of eyes browse through the postings and messages, including criminals looking for ways to lure victims, say police.

"We are inviting the whole world into our homes if we are not careful," said Novak.

Denton recalled when people looked outside their windows and into backyards to see what their children were doing.

"Now, if they are in the room on the computer, you have to be very careful to know that is going on. Things have changed, to say the least."