By Police1 Staff
GLOUCESTER TOWNSHIP, N.J. — Police in New Jersey say that YouTube has helped them solve three recent cases, raising the question of whether other departments should mimic their model.
Titled “Attempt to identify,” a series of surveillance tapes on The Gloucester
Township Police Department’s YouTube page introduces recent crimes — where and when they took place and any items that are missing — with the department’s contact information should viewers have leads.
Recently footage was posted of a man who stole a shirt from Kmart while flailing his arms and swaying his hips, earning him the nickname the “dancing shoplifter.”
Police were able to identify him after the video garnered more than 3,000 views and was aired on nighttime television.
“It’s like the old days when you’d go to the post office and see the wanted flyers on the wall. Now people can sit at their homes, sit on their phones and watch these videos,” Detective Chuck Dougherty told ABC.
This isn’t exactly a new tactic. A Washington Post article from 2008 describes an effort by Arlington (Va.) PD to use YouTube to apprehend criminals, and an article from an online resource for business professionals in Wisconsin outlines how “Milwaukee Police Department debuted the YouTube channel as a strategy for seeking tips from the public on suspects in armed robberies, burglaries, and other crimes captured on security cameras.”
Does your department use YouTube to identify suspects?