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Police Using YouTube to Catch Killers

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the what-can-it-not-do dept.

Accommodate Students writes "The BBC is reporting on Greater Manchester police's attempts to use YouTube to catch the killers of the 15 year old, Jessie James. The video features a message from Jessie's mother Barbara Reid and sister Rosemary. BBC radio news has said this is the first time the police force have used YouTube in this way to catch criminals." Update: 10/08 07:40 GMT by Z : Sorry, misunderstood the situation. Thanks for the clarification.

15 of 111 comments (clear)

  1. So I'm not the only one? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I love The Killers. There's all sorts of videos, interviews and other performances available on YouTube. Just search for The Killers.

  2. Mail.co.uk story by Tavor · · Score: 3, Informative

    http://www.sundaymail.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=17716 478&method=full&siteid=64736&headline=execution-of -a-boy-called-jessie-james--name_page.html

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  3. More apropos to ask... by Deadstick · · Score: 3, Insightful
    ...why we in the States would not consider it noteworthy.

    rj

  4. It's important because... by lxt · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The simple fact that a 15 year old boy getting shot gets such media attention in Britain (when compared to similar events in America) is noteworthy. Sure, the USA is a far larger country, but even at a State level you don't really see the same kind of news reporting when it comes to these kind of shootings.

  5. In some places, murder is still news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Other than the obvious and regrettably tragedy of the situation, why is this case noteworthy?

    Well, in some countries, like the UK, there aren't so many murders everyday throughout the year that the populace has lost all sense of empathy when a human life is taken. All it takes is for there to be an unusual circumstance and it will become big news.

    I guess in some other countries, where bizzare murders and school/work shootings happen all the time and people are bored of it, people would rather hear about Angela Jolie and Brad Pitt.

    1. Re:In some places, murder is still news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      What!? Why!? Did something happen to Brangelina that I missed???

    2. Re:In some places, murder is still news by Dan+East · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Although it serves as a model example of flamebait, your post doesn't answer the question. The UK has averaged close to 3 murders a day for the last several years. 95% of those murders don't make headlines in the UK. So, Other than the obvious and regrettably tragedy of the situation, why is this case noteworthy?

      Dan East

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      Better known as 318230.
    3. Re:In some places, murder is still news by heinousjay · · Score: 5, Funny

      Shhhh, you aren't allowed to answer a slam of the US with anything approaching logic.

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      Slashdot - where whining about luck is the new way to make the world you want.
    4. Re:In some places, murder is still news by Attaturk · · Score: 4, Interesting

      It should also be noted that the BBC article you quoted was written entirely by an American with a book out: "Joyce Malcolm, Professor of History, Bentley College, US. Author of Guns & Violence: the English Experience. Senior Advisor, MIT Security Studies Program"

      We British people do so love learning about guns and the "English Experience" from pro-gun Americans. ;-)

      In other words, published by the BBC it may be, but it's also a gun lobbyist's sales pitch on the idea of Brits embracing american gun culture so please don't take it out of context and please don't take it as any indication of the British culture and/or its attitude towards guns.

      The simple fact of the matter is that, by and large, we don't like guns here. We don't like people having guns and we don't even like our police force to have guns. If we had our way the army would still be equipped with swords, which you can still run away from by the way. ;-)

      The reason this story was both shocking and "noteworthy" was because the views expressed by Ms. Malcolm and her ilk are anathema to most Brits.
      We may well experience three murders a day on average in this country of roughly 65 million but I suspect that very, very few of them involve innocent children being shot on the street.

  6. YouTube Link by Bueller_007 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Here's the video in question:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RM6HmxlU-hI

  7. very simple by Trailer+Trash · · Score: 3, Insightful

    A large percentage of murder has a motive, and the killer and victim know each other. This case is particularly heinous for these reasons:

    1. The victim apparently didn't know the killers
    2. He was apparently chosen solely based on race
    3. The killers are still at large, and there's no reason to believe that they wouldn't do this again

    People don't think too much when drug dealers are killing each other, because most of us don't hang out with that crowd and aren't really affected by it. That's why a killing like this brings in much more attention.

    --
    Do you have ESP?
  8. Re:Pick all that apply by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You would not consider it newsworthy in the States because it's not a middle class caucasian girl and is not being shown around the clock on CNN.

    (This is not flamebait. Think about it for a second)

  9. Is Zonk an idiot? by Stalyn · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This is apparently related to the hatespeak-related jailing we discussed on Saturday.

    Jesse James != Anthony Walker. The only way they are related is that both murder victims are black.

    Other than the obvious and regrettably tragedy of the situation, why is this case noteworthy?

    What did Stalin say, "A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic"? So how this particular case different than the thousands of others who die regularly? I dont know but that sure is a shitty way to look at the world.

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  10. Re:Noteworthy... by name*censored* · · Score: 3, Funny

    Yeah, I've always wondered... do you (USA-sians) guys cover *all* the previous days murders on the news (list their names?), or just local murders, or do you just ignore anyone who wasn't rich/famous? Murders here (Australia) are usually the first to third story on the news..

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  11. Re:Noteworthy... by slick_rick · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It is all relative, so it really depends on where you live. If you live in Southern California, they might not even bother mentioning any murders save for the really sensational ones... But you are talking about a metro area (SoCal) with more people (24 million) then all of Australia(20 million)... I doubt Australias national news news reports on Perths murders (except for the really sensational ones), but I could be wrong.

    If you live in a smaller metro like here in Grand Rapids/Western MI a metro of about .75 million, all murders definitely make the news (as do the followups on who, what, when, and what the sentence was).

    It is all about scale my friend.

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