Videos posted to YouTube by the rapper Na Boogz (a.k.a. Shaquille Holder) were noted in an indictment against him and nine other members of a youth gang.

NYPD Decoding Hip-Hop Videos On YouTube To Track Gang Crime

Soundcheck | Jan 21, 2014

Hip-hop lyrics almost always describe life on the streets -- or what it feels like to get away from life on the streets. Social media is giving would-be hip-hop stars a huge audience for their true to life rhymes. But some rappers in New York City are being a bit too true to life. They’re including some references and lyrics that are landing them attention from an unwanted audience: the New York Police Department.

According to a recent article in the The New York Times, the police recently began monitoring YouTube accounts to decode hip-hop lyrics of suspected gang members.

David Goodman, who covers the NYPD for the Times, tells Soundcheck host John Schaefer about how the police are using YouTube in an unlikely investigation. 

Read David Goodman's piece about the NY Police Department's use of online video here. 

 

Videos like the one below have helped police investigators draw connections between suspects in gang-related crimes. 

 

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