Police are using WorldStarHipHop to catch criminals

According to a report by ABC news, police are using the popular hip-hop/video website WorldStarHipHop to catch criminals.

In the report, they discuss the effects of the website, which often posts cell phone footage of fights in schools, restaurants, trains, buses, etc.

They report police frequent the site to find and apprehend those involved in the fights and other criminal activity.

Christine O’Brien, spokeswoman of the Philadelphia Police Department, said World Star and similar sites have helped detectives zero in on suspects quickly just from watching the videos. They solved one such crime in early January, when a man was jumped, beaten and robbed while waiting for a subway. The incident was uploaded to World Star Hip Hop, and detectives made an arrest in the case four days later.

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“After we got this got tip [about the World Star video], we found the video and were able to gather information from it,” O’Brien said. “At that point, we made decision to make sure investigators were made aware of this website, to go on and look for incidences. You don’t realize how many people follow YouTube and the videos. It’s a great tool in solving a lot of these crimes.”