YouTube Being Used To Catch Police Pranksters

We’ve heard of police using the Internet to try to catch robbers and vandals, but officers in the UK are now going after pranksters online.

British police have started posting inappropriate emergency calls to YouTube. The calls range from the absurd — a guy calling to complain that his wife left him only subpar salmon sandwiches to eat — to the just plain odd, such as one where a man says his feet are sore because there aren’t enough buses in his neighborhood. Another woman calls in to ask what year the Internet started.

Police are hoping that by posting the clips, people will recognize the voices and help them catch the culprits. Of course, one could also argue that the exposure might encourage antics by giving would-be pranksters a public venue for their jokes. In all fairness, though, many of these calls do appear to be more of a result of plain old stupidity than intentional pranking.