[ WANTED ]

Wanted posters have been plastered around to let people know about fugitives and also for to help the police find wanted (alleged) criminals or for eyewitnesses to come forward. Then television and radio broadcasting took over and we see descriptions, footage and drawings of potentially dangerous offenders in the news. The modern way of hunting down fugitives is now YouTube. The NSW state police force now has their own YouTube channel and Twitter account to keep followers and viewers informed of the latest crime updates.

TheNSWPolice, the username for the police on YouTube, has over 1000 subscribers and a total of approximately 851,000 unique views of their videos. The accessibility of the internet and the ease of creating social networking accounts like a YouTube channel where you can upload your own video or a Twitter account, where your ‘followers’ can read a 140 characters account of what you’re doing, it is not surprising that the authorities are using such platforms to inform the public of events, especially when politicians and celebrities are using these sites. People who may not have time to watch the news, or who only catches glimpses, can jump online and watch and read information which the authorities

The police have recently released CCTV footage of a stabbing in Sydney CBD on the corner of Sussex St and Goulbourn St in Sydney CBD as an attempt to appeal for witnesses. The 30 second footage shows a group who were at the time of the incident that police suspects may have information on the attacker and/or victim or can describe the events prior to the violent altercation. Other videos on the channel include police operations which are more detailed and different updates which you may not see on the news.

The video embedded above received 2293 views. 

               

With the police using YouTube and Twitter, will they ‘break up’ with ‘traditional’ press? How important is a press conferences when there are millions of users on YouTube and Twitter? As technology advances, we'll just have to wait and see what new platforms are available for use by the police.

Related Links

NSW Police’s YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/TheNSWPolice