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July, 2014 - Week 1
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Islamabad, Pakistan
Community policing gets boost in Islamabad
by Shakeel Anjum
The Islamabad Police have once again decided to control crime with cooperation of Islooites by involving them in war against criminals, a police officer engaged in the planning told ‘The News.'
The urban communities would be invited to help police in watch and ward, while people residing in rural areas would help the local police.
As a concept, the Community Policing builds a bridge that enables residents and law enforcement to communicate, collaborate and work together to build safer as well as more caring communities. With the same purpose to strengthen relationships with residents and crack down on crime, Islamabad police have launched ‘Meet the people' programme.
The community policing was introduced for the first time in 2001 by the then SSP (Islamabad) Nasir Khan Durrani, (currently inspector general of police (IGP) Khyber Pakhtunkhawa (KP), who served with the Islamabad police for 29 months and introduced numerous paradigms and ideas to commence effective and better policing in available resources. While, Sikandar Hayat, during his 20-month tenure as SSP Islamabad, vehemently promoted the Community Policing concept in 2006. This programme has been started in the capital city with the objectives to reduce the trust deficit between the people and police, gather critical information crucial in crime fighting and reduce fear of crime among the people through reassurance policing.
A comprehensive drive against the criminals is being launched on war footings with the help of the people of Islamabad. He said that all the station house officers (SHO) have been directed to develop liaison with the people of the relevant areas seeking their help to combat street crime.
Meetings would be arranged in different areas of every police stations to take the locals into confidence, police source said. He said that ‘Mohalla Committees' would be set up on police station levels to develop liaison between the police and public. The committees would help out the police in combating the street crime. “With the purpose to further involve community in policing affairs, SPs, SDPOs, and the SHOs of Islamabad Police have been asked to hold meeting with people of their areas on regular basis. All the SHOs have been directed to hold meetings outside the police station in mohallas or sectors and the markets to connect with the people at local level,” the officer said. Similarly, all sub divisional police officers have also been asked to hold such meetings once a week and the zonal SPs will also join these meetings.
A campaign is being initiated to in rural as well as urban areas to educate the people for preventive measures to protect their vehicles and houses, the officer said and added that the people would be convinced to install ‘tracking system' in their vehicles as well as locking up the steering of their cars for protection. “Car lifting has become alarming for the Capital police, which can be overcome with the help of the people by adopting minor preventive measures as steering locking of the vehicles”, he maintained.
Through these meetings, they will discuss local crime trends and focus to address various problems within their respective localities.
Community policing, a philosophy that emphasises citizen involvement and preventive action, will help cops to fight crime and facilitate problem solving policing, SSP Islamabad Muhammad Ali Nekokara said when contacted by this correspondent.
He said interaction with people will help police to understand the ground realities vis a vis crime and public perception of police and crime. Consequently this will facilitate local police in prioritising policing needs in their areas of jurisdiction. Putting the community policing philosophy into operation successfully demands extraordinary management skills from the police department. It will require cooperation as well as understanding from other various civil society organisations and other stakeholders.
The SSP said a community that embraces its police and a police officer that respects the community builds a safer community. Such measures of continuous interaction with society members will help us to ensure community and friendly policing, he maintained.
The SSP said that special squads of Rescue-15 have been given the duties to take the people into confidence.
Most of the domestic servants played roles in dacoities, thefts, burglaries and other street crimes, the SSP said adding, “We have collected detail information about the domestics servants with their identity cards and photographs”.
He anticipated that the new strategy to re-introduce the community policing would help the police for rooting out the crime from the federal capital as well as it would enhance the image of the police.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-6-259953-Community-policing-gets-boost-in-Islama
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Buffalo, NY
OPINION
Letter: Citizens must demand community policing
Not to disparage the cheery message delivered in the Another Voice by Linda Freidenberg and Rich Lee of the Board of Block Clubs of Buffalo and Erie County on the state of police/community relations in Buffalo, but law enforcement in this country has been on a very unfortunate trajectory for two decades now. The Buffalo Police Department's community policing program is in no way going to change that.
In the 1960s, the U.S. Supreme Court began handing down historic decisions that came to form the nucleus of a sophisticated body of learning that turned policing into a true profession based on principles drawn from the Bill of Rights. In 1978, the court handed down a decision that allowed citizens to sue municipalities for violations of federally protected rights by police officers. These two historic developments set American policing on a very positive track indeed – toward professionalism, better training, administration and strict accountability. When bolstered by advances in technology and the scientific investigation of crime, things were going very well. Moreover, an enlightened philosophy of community policing, founded upon relationships of partnership, collaboration and trust between law enforcement and the community, began to take hold. Then, in 1994, Rudy Giuliani took office as mayor of New York City and inaugurated CompStat, an aggressive, statistics-driven style of policing that has, over the past two decades, undermined all of the achievements of the recent past. Today, policing is all numbers all the time.
It is obvious that there are many people in Buffalo who stand ready to work with the Police Department to make their city a paragon of the finest in community policing. But the assignment of a handful of police officers out of a force of some 800 is not community policing. And to suggest that the meetings that have been held with the block clubs are somehow contributing to a decline in crime is not credible. Better the block clubs should learn what true community policing is and start demanding it.
I'm not one to blame Commissioner Dan Derenda for the way things are going. He is simply swimming with the nationwide tide Giuliani set in motion two decades ago. I call upon Gov. Andrew Cuomo to propose in his next budget that state assistance to local law enforcement be invested in promoting collaborative community policing initiatives.
Terry O'Neill - Director, Constantine Institute
http://www.buffalonews.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/letter-citizens-must-demand-community-policing-20140701
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Rhode Island
Providence Police Department gets regional community policing award
by AMANDA MILKOVITS
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Providence Police Department has received an award for “Community Policing Department of the Year” from the New England Association of Chiefs of Police.
The award comes as the department prepares to celebrate its 150th anniversary this summer – and as its roster has plummeted to the fewest number of officers police in about 30 years.
At a ceremony outside the Providence Public Safety Complex on Tuesday, Chief Hugh T. Clements Jr. told the crowd of law enforcement and community organization that the award was meaningful to the force.
“We know what we do to fight crime in the city,” Clements said.
The award was intended to honor the police department in New England that showed the greatest commitment to community policing, by building partnerships in the community that help reduce crime and improve the city's quality of life.
Providence's work has been a decade in the making.
The department's community policing plan was designed in 2003, when there were more officers and more federal funding for programs. Under then-Chief Dean M. Esserman, the city was divided into nine police districts, each led by a lieutenant, to work as a local police chief, whose job is to decide how to solve and prevent crimes in his or her neighborhoods.
Many residents, community organizations and other law enforcement agencies welcomed the concept, and the police forged strong connections. In the plan's first few years, the city saw a drop in the number of homicides and in the crime rate.
But the nine districts were intended for a force of 500 officers – a goal that the department never reached. With about a hundred fewer officers – now 399 on the roster, including 24 out injured or suspended – Clements has reduced the number of districts, giving the lieutenants larger areas to cover, and made other adjustments.
Despite the drop in district offices and funding, Clements said he remains committed to community policing. A new police academy class is graduating this fall and will fill some of the vacancies. The overall community policing concept remains the same, with the partners that the department forged over the last decade still in place.
Some attended Tuesday's ceremony, including representatives from the Providence Center, Family Service of Rhode Island, LISC Rhode Island, and Olneyville Housing, U.S. Marshal Jamie A. Hainsworth, Deputy Atorney General Gerald Coyne, state corrections director A.T. Wall, and members of the Rhode Island Police Chiefs Association.
Mayor Angel Taveras recognized the work of the organizations with the police department. While policing is just one factor among many that impact a city's violent crime rate, the mayor noted the 20 percent drop in the crime in the last year, according to statistics kept by the department.
“It's about collaboration, it's about trust, and it's about bringing partners to the table with new ideas,” said Public Safety Commissioner Steven M. Pare.
“Despite the number of police officers on the street, despite the uptick in gun violence from time to time, we deliver,” Pare added. “To the men and women who serve the city every day, this is on your backs. It's because of the work you do each and every day to prevent crime.”
http://www.providencejournal.com/breaking-news/content/20140701-providence-police-department-gets-regional-community-policing-award.ece
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Oakland, California
Oakland police tax takes focus off community policing
by Matthew Artz
OAKLAND -- Police leaders would have a lot more flexibility in allocating more than $10 million a year from Oakland's signature public safety tax measure under a draft proposal released Friday.
Whereas the original Measure Y property tax, which expires this year, committed police to spending its share of tax proceeds on 63 officers assigned to community policing, the new measure spells out a much broader mandate of reducing crime and improving 911 response times.
"We wanted there to be increased flexibility for the department to provide money where it's most needed," said Councilwoman Lynette Gibson McElhaney, who served on a committee that wrote the ballot language. She said the department would still be required to have community policing officers.
Passed by voters in 2004, Measure Y generates $21 million for violence prevention programs, firefighting services and the 63 community policing officers.
Polls have shown that city residents want more police and social programs, but the city has a credibility gap with voters when it comes to the measure that taxes single-family homeowners $98 per year and imposes an 8.5 percent surcharge on parking rates.
The measure was contingent on the city maintaining a police force of at least 802 officers. But when the economy crashed and police staffing dropped well below that threshold, voters had to approve eliminating the staffing clause in 2010 so the city could continue to collect the tax.
Unlike its predecessor, the draft measure does not include a hard minimum police staffing requirement. The Fire Department's allotment would be halved from $4 million to $2 million, with 60 percent of the remaining money going to the Police Department and 40 percent going toward violence prevention programs.
The original Measure Y was promoted as a tool to fully fund the department's community policing program, which was especially popular in the voter-rich hills neighborhoods.
But as police staffing plummeted over the last decade, department leaders struggled to meet the community policing mandate while adequately staffing the patrol division and crime suppression units. Over the years, police leaders have griped about not having more flexibility in using the tax proceeds.
Marcus Johnson, chairman of Oakland's Community Policing Advisory Board, said he supported giving the department greater control over the tax funds. "I think the strategy has to be flexible," he said. "You've got to give police latitude in how they address crime."
But Marleen Sacks, a resident who twice sued the city over its implementation of Measure Y, said she would oppose the proposed measure as currently written because it was too broad and lacked a minimum staffing requirement.
"It's just a slush fund, which is how they treated Measure Y from the get-go," she said.
The City Council is expected to vote on the new ballot language before the end of July. The first review will come June 24 at the council's Public Safety Committee.
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_25963933/oakland-police-tax-takes-focus-off-community-policing
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South Carolina
Pedaling into community policing
by Daniel J. Gross
Not a single block goes by without Russell Porter waving at familiar faces in downtown Spartanburg.
This is the new role of the veteran master patrol officer who traded 15 years of investigating gristly crime scenes for riding a bicycle in the Spartanburg Police Department's growing Downtown Unit.
The downtown unit is a community-oriented policing section of the department that requires officers to patrol on bicycle and foot rather than cruiser to provide a visual, inviting police presence for those in the downtown corridor.
“It seemed like it was time for a change, time to do something different,” he said.
Porter is adjusting well to the change, he said. No longer being alerted to respond to the next shooting or stabbing, he is getting accustomed to hopping on his department-issued Haro mountain bike and strapping on his helmet around 8 a.m. each day.
During a recent Tuesday afternoon, Porter helped a motorist and her two grandchildren get back into their locked minivan at Barnet Park, helped another driver at Spartanburg Headquarters Public Library reverse off of a curb she had driven over and made countless checks with local businesses.
He said it's important to check in with local business owners to know what's going on in the community and give them a sense of security.
Among his business stops Tuesday afternoon were Diamond Jewelers, The Palladian Group, Renato's Italian Restaurant and Olive and Then Some, where manager Sally Hite had him try some of the store's dark balsamic vinegars over ice cream.
“This one's my favorite,” Porter said, pouring a dollop of vinegar on his spoon.
The business checks, he admitted, also serve as a “cool downtime” to beat the heat and enjoy air conditioning while asking tenants if they are safe. The temperature in Spartanburg was a toasty 91 degrees Tuesday.
Teresa Fortenberry, whose car Porter unlocked, said she was thrilled to see a downtown officer assist her, knowing that the police department has more pressing matters to handle.
“All I can do is say thank you,” she said, while Porter handed rubber bracelets to the grandchildren. “They're wonderful people. We wouldn't be safe without them — and not all of them, but some of them go the extra mile.”
Longtime downtown unit officer Sgt. Lee Raines said he and Porter used to be on uniform patrol together when they first came to the agency, and he had tried to get him to join the downtown unit when it was formed in the late 90s. It wasn't until late April when Porter stepped into the role.
“He knows the people. He's great with the people,” Raines said. “And we have to make people downtown feel safe.”
Porter, of Boiling Springs, pointed out several striking differences between the criminal investigation division and the downtown unit, which falls under the special operations division.
The robbers, gang-bangers and muggers he was used to dealing with were replaced with panhandlers, vagrants, people intoxicated in public and shoplifters.
“Violent crimes, murders, I was doing all of those. It was challenging to say the least,” he said, reflecting on some of the more high-profile homicides and missing person cases he investigated over the years. “This role is for self-starters. You do business checks, you're face to face with people. They know you by name.”
He added that many of those who frequent downtown Spartanburg and are familiar with the officers call their cellphones directly to report problems rather than 911.
Porter's assignment change makes him the third officer in the downtown unit.
Chief Alonzo Thompson made the decision to bring the unit back to three sworn officers after a previous officer holding the third position left the department more than a year ago. The department's command staff offered Porter the position to help him transition out of an arduous criminal investigations position. He has been with the department for 21 years.
Thompson wants to see the downtown unit expand as the city's downtown corridor grows and hopes to add more downtown unit positions sometime in the future.
Added businesses from Spartanburg's Main Street Challenge program and the under-construction commercial and residential Wall Street building are among city enhancements the police department looks at to determine its police presence.
Overall, police incidents in the downtown business corridor went up between 2012 and 2013, according to Spartanburg Police Department policing data.
There were 846 reported incidents in 2012 – 50 acts of vandalism, 108 overall larceny cases and 65 drunkenness reports. Last year, the district saw 925 reported incidents with 35 shoplifting cases, 47 drug violations and 161 ongoing confidential investigations, among other reports.
Downtown district crime is down so far this year with 373 overall reported incidents.
Porter said every day on the new beat is unique, and the roughly 10 miles of biking per day helps with the exercise.
“He's always on the go. Oh, I see him go by all the time. We appreciate him,” said Becky Kerr, a receptionist at The Palladian Group. “It's nice to know they're here for us.”
http://www.goupstate.com/article/20140702/ARTICLES/140709898?Title=Pedaling-into-community-policing
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FBI
A Parent's Guide to Internet Safety
U.S. Department of Justice
Federal Bureau of Investigation - Publications
Dear Parent:
Our children are our Nation's most valuable asset. They represent the bright future of our country and hold our hopes for a better Nation. Our children are also the most vulnerable members of society. Protecting our children against the fear of crime and from becoming victims of crime must be a national priority.
Unfortunately the same advances in computer and telecommunication technology that allow our children to reach out to new sources of knowledge and cultural experiences are also leaving them vulnerable to exploitation and harm by computer-sex offenders.
I hope that this pamphlet helps you to begin to understand the complexities of on-line child exploitation. For further information, please contact your local FBI office or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678.
Louis J. Freeh, Former Director
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Introduction
While on-line computer exploration opens a world of possibilities for children, expanding their horizons and exposing them to different cultures and ways of life, they can be exposed to dangers as they hit the road exploring the information highway. There are individuals who attempt to sexually exploit children through the use of on-line services and the Internet. Some of these individuals gradually seduce their targets through the use of attention, affection, kindness, and even gifts. These individuals are often willing to devote considerable amounts of time, money, and energy in this process. They listen to and empathize with the problems of children. They will be aware of the latest music, hobbies, and interests of children. These individuals attempt to gradually lower children's inhibitions by slowly introducing sexual context and content into their conversations.
There are other individuals, however, who immediately engage in sexually explicit conversation with children. Some offenders primarily collect and trade child-pornographic images, while others seek face-to-face meetings with children via on-line contacts. It is important for parents to understand that children can be indirectly victimized through conversation, i.e. "chat," as well as the transfer of sexually explicit information and material. Computer-sex offenders may also be evaluating children they come in contact with on-line for future face-to-face contact and direct victimization. Parents and children should remember that a computer-sex offender can be any age or sex the person does not have to fit the caricature of a dirty, unkempt, older man wearing a raincoat to be someone who could harm a child.
Children, especially adolescents, are sometimes interested in and curious about sexuality and sexually explicit material. They may be moving away from the total control of parents and seeking to establish new relationships outside their family. Because they may be curious, children/adolescents sometimes use their on-line access to actively seek out such materials and individuals. Sex offenders targeting children will use and exploit these characteristics and needs. Some adolescent children may also be attracted to and lured by on-line offenders closer to their age who, although not technically child molesters, may be dangerous. Nevertheless, they have been seduced and manipulated by a clever offender and do not fully understand or recognize the potential danger of these contacts.
This guide was prepared from actual investigations involving child victims, as well as investigations where law enforcement officers posed as children. Further information on protecting your child on-line may be found in the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's Child Safety on the Information Highway and Teen Safety on the Information Highway pamphlets.
What Are Signs That Your Child Might Be At Risk On-line?
Your child spends large amounts of time on-line, especially at night.
Most children that fall victim to computer-sex offenders spend large amounts of time on-line, particularly in chat rooms. They may go on-line after dinner and on the weekends. They may be latchkey kids whose parents have told them to stay at home after school. They go on-line to chat with friends, make new friends, pass time, and sometimes look for sexually explicit information. While much of the knowledge and experience gained may be valuable, parents should consider monitoring the amount of time spent on-line.
Children on-line are at the greatest risk during the evening hours. While offenders are on-line around the clock, most work during the day and spend their evenings on-line trying to locate and lure children or seeking pornography.
You find pornography on your child's computer.
Pornography is often used in the sexual victimization of children. Sex offenders often supply their potential victims with pornography as a means of opening sexual discussions and for seduction. Child pornography may be used to show the child victim that sex between children and adults is "normal." Parents should be conscious of the fact that a child may hide the pornographic files on diskettes from them. This may be especially true if the computer is used by other family members.
Your child receives phone calls from men you don't know or is making calls, sometimes long distance, to numbers you don't recognize.
While talking to a child victim on-line is a thrill for a computer-sex offender, it can be very cumbersome. Most want to talk to the children on the telephone. They often engage in "phone sex" with the children and often seek to set up an actual meeting for real sex.
While a child may be hesitant to give out his/her home phone number, the computer-sex offenders will give out theirs. With Caller ID, they can readily find out the child's phone number. Some computer-sex offenders have even obtained toll-free 800 numbers, so that their potential victims can call them without their parents finding out. Others will tell the child to call collect. Both of these methods result in the computer-sex offender being able to find out the child's phone number.
Your child receives mail, gifts, or packages from someone you don't know.
As part of the seduction process, it is common for offenders to send letters, photographs, and all manner of gifts to their potential victims. Computer-sex offenders have even sent plane tickets in order for the child to travel across the country to meet them.
Your child turns the computer monitor off or quickly changes the screen on the monitor when you come into the room.
A child looking at pornographic images or having sexually explicit conversations does not want you to see it on the screen.
Your child becomes withdrawn from the family.
Computer-sex offenders will work very hard at driving a wedge between a child and their family or at exploiting their relationship. They will accentuate any minor problems at home that the child might have. Children may also become withdrawn after sexual victimization.
Your child is using an on-line account belonging to someone else.
Even if you don't subscribe to an on-line service or Internet service, your child may meet an offender while on-line at a friend's house or the library. Most computers come preloaded with on-line and/or Internet software. Computer-sex offenders will sometimes provide potential victims with a computer account for communications with them.
What Should You Do If You Suspect Your Child Is Communicating With A Sexual Predator On-line?
• Consider talking openly with your child about your suspicions. Tell them about the dangers of computer-sex offenders.
• Review what is on your child's computer. If you don't know how, ask a friend, coworker, relative, or other knowledgeable person. Pornography or any kind of sexual communication can be a warning sign.
• Use the Caller ID service to determine who is calling your child. Most telephone companies that offer Caller ID also offer a service that allows you to block your number from appearing on someone else's Caller ID. Telephone companies also offer an additional service feature that rejects incoming calls that you block. This rejection feature prevents computer-sex offenders or anyone else from calling your home anonymously.
• Devices can be purchased that show telephone numbers that have been dialed from your home phone. Additionally, the last number called from your home phone can be retrieved provided that the telephone is equipped with a redial feature. You will also need a telephone pager to complete this retrieval.
• This is done using a numeric-display pager and another phone that is on the same line as the first phone with the redial feature. Using the two phones and the pager, a call is placed from the second phone to the pager. When the paging terminal beeps for you to enter a telephone number, you press the redial button on the first (or suspect) phone. The last number called from that phone will then be displayed on the pager.
• Monitor your child's access to all types of live electronic communications (i.e., chat rooms, instant messages, Internet Relay Chat, etc.), and monitor your child's e-mail. Computer-sex offenders almost always meet potential victims via chat rooms. After meeting a child on-line, they will continue to communicate electronically often via e-mail.
Should any of the following situations arise in your household, via the Internet or on-line service, you should immediately contact your local or state law enforcement agency, the FBI, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children:
1. Your child or anyone in the household has received child pornography;
2. Your child has been sexually solicited by someone who knows that your child is under 18 years of age;
3. Your child has received sexually explicit images from someone that knows your child is under the age of 18.
If one of these scenarios occurs, keep the computer turned off in order to preserve any evidence for future law enforcement use. Unless directed to do so by the law enforcement agency, you should not attempt to copy any of the images and/or text found on the computer.
What Can You Do To Minimize The Chances Of An On-line Exploiter Victimizing Your Child?
• Communicate, and talk to your child about sexual victimization and potential on-line danger.
• Spend time with your children on-line. Have them teach you about their favorite on-line destinations.
• Keep the computer in a common room in the house, not in your child's bedroom. It is much more difficult for a computer-sex offender to communicate with a child when the computer screen is visible to a parent or another member of the household.
• Utilize parental controls provided by your service provider and/or blocking software. While electronic chat can be a great place for children to make new friends and discuss various topics of interest, it is also prowled by computer-sex offenders. Use of chat rooms, in particular, should be heavily monitored. While parents should utilize these mechanisms, they should not totally rely on them.
• Always maintain access to your child's on-line account and randomly check his/her e-mail. Be aware that your child could be contacted through the U.S. Mail. Be up front with your child about your access and reasons why.
• Teach your child the responsible use of the resources on-line. There is much more to the on-line experience than chat rooms.
• Find out what computer safeguards are utilized by your child's school, the public library, and at the homes of your child's friends. These are all places, outside your normal supervision, where your child could encounter an on-line predator.
• Understand, even if your child was a willing participant in any form of sexual exploitation, that he/she is not at fault and is the victim. The offender always bears the complete responsibility for his or her actions.
• Instruct your children:
~ to never arrange a face-to-face meeting with someone they met on- line;
~ to never upload (post) pictures of themselves onto the Internet or on-line service to people they do not personally know;
~ to never give out identifying information such as their name, home address, school name, or telephone number;
~ to never download pictures from an unknown source, as there is a good chance there could be sexually explicit images;
~ to never respond to messages or bulletin board postings that are suggestive, obscene, belligerent, or harassing;
~ that whatever they are told on-line may or may not be true.
Frequently Asked Questions:
My child has received an e-mail advertising for a pornographic website, what should I do?
Generally, advertising for an adult, pornographic website that is sent to an e-mail address does not violate federal law or the current laws of most states. In some states it may be a violation of law if the sender knows the recipient is under the age of 18. Such advertising can be reported to your service provider and, if known, the service provider of the originator. It can also be reported to your state and federal legislators, so they can be made aware of the extent of the problem.
Is any service safer than the others?
Sex offenders have contacted children via most of the major on-line services and the Internet. The most important factors in keeping your child safe on-line are the utilization of appropriate blocking software and/or parental controls, along with open, honest discussions with your child, monitoring his/her on-line activity, and following the tips in this pamphlet.
Should I just forbid my child from going on-line?
There are dangers in every part of our society. By educating your children to these dangers and taking appropriate steps to protect them, they can benefit from the wealth of information now available on-line.
Helpful Definitions:
Internet - An immense, global network that connects computers via telephone lines and/or fiber networks to storehouses of electronic information. With only a computer, a modem, a telephone line and a service provider, people from all over the world can communicate and share information with little more than a few keystrokes.
Bulletin Board Systems (BBSs) - Electronic networks of computers that are connected by a central computer setup and operated by a system administrator or operator and are distinguishable from the Internet by their "dial-up" accessibility. BBS users link their individual computers to the central BBS computer by a modem which allows them to post messages, read messages left by others, trade information, or hold direct conversations. Access to a BBS can, and often is, privileged and limited to those users who have access privileges granted by the systems operator.
Commercial On-line Service (COS) - Examples of COSs are America Online, Prodigy, CompuServe and Microsoft Network, which provide access to their service for a fee. COSs generally offer limited access to the Internet as part of their total service package.
Internet Service Provider (ISP) - Examples of ISPs are Erols, Concentric and Netcom. These services offer direct, full access to the Internet at a flat, monthly rate and often provide electronic-mail service for their customers. ISPs often provide space on their servers for their customers to maintain World Wide Web (WWW) sites. Not all ISPs are commercial enterprises. Educational, governmental and nonprofit organizations also provide Internet access to their members.
Public Chat Rooms - Created, maintained, listed and monitored by the COS and other public domain systems such as Internet Relay Chat. A number of customers can be in the public chat rooms at any given time, which are monitored for illegal activity and even appropriate language by systems operators (SYSOP). Some public chat rooms are monitored more frequently than others, depending on the COS and the type of chat room. Violators can be reported to the administrators of the system (at America On-line they are referred to as terms of service [TOS]) which can revoke user privileges. The public chat rooms usually cover a broad range of topics such as entertainment, sports, game rooms, children only, etc.
Electronic Mail (E-Mail) - A function of BBSs, COSs and ISPs which provides for the transmission of messages and files between computers over a communications network similar to mailing a letter via the postal service. E-mail is stored on a server, where it will remain until the addressee retrieves it. Anonymity can be maintained by the sender by predetermining what the receiver will see as the "from" address. Another way to conceal one's identity is to use an "anonymous remailer," which is a service that allows the user to send an e-mail message repackaged under the remailer's own header, stripping off the originator's name completely.
Chat - Real-time text conversation between users in a chat room with no expectation of privacy. All chat conversation is accessible by all individuals in the chat room while the conversation is taking place.
Instant Messages - Private, real-time text conversation between two users in a chat room.
Internet Relay Chat (IRC) - Real-time text conversation similar to public and/or private chat rooms on COS.
Usenet (Newsgroups) - Like a giant, cork bulletin board where users post messages and information. Each posting is like an open letter and is capable of having attachments, such as graphic image files (GIFs). Anyone accessing the newsgroup can read the postings, take copies of posted items, or post responses. Each newsgroup can hold thousands of postings. Currently, there are over 29,000 public newsgroups and that number is growing daily. Newsgroups are both public and/or private. There is no listing of private newsgroups. A user of private newsgroups has to be invited into the newsgroup and be provided with the newsgroup's address.
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Cyber Division, Innocent Images National Initiative
11700 Beltsville Drive Calverton, MD 20705
Download a PDF vedsion of this publication here --> A Parent's Guide to Internet Safety
Contact your local FBI office for further information.
http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/parent-guide
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Almost Half of Teen Boys and Young Men Have Been Sexually Coerced
by Hermione Stranger
According to a new study, a large portion of teen boys and young men have been forced or coerced into sexual activity by a peer. The study, published in the journal Psychology of Men and Masculinity , 43% of high school boys and young college men reported they had an unwanted sexual experience, and 95% reported that a female acquaintance was the aggressor.
"Sexual victimization continues to be a pervasive problem in the United States, but the victimization of men is rarely explored," said the lead author, Dr. Breanna French. "Our findings can help lead to better prevention by identifying the various types of coercion that men face and by acknowledging women as perpetrators against men." While participants reported relatively low rates of being victimized by other men, French cautions against concluding that rates of male-on-male victimization are actually that low, as participants may have been uncomfortable reporting being victimized by another boy or man due to internalized homophobia and fears of emasculation.
Of the 284 males from ages 14-26, 18 percent reported sexual coercion by physical force; 31 percent said they were verbally coerced; 26 percent described unwanted seduction by sexual behaviors; and 7 percent said they were compelled after being given alcohol or drugs. Half ended up having some form of sexual intercourse, 10% reported an attempt at intercourse, and 40% said the result was fondling or kissing. The high rate of sexual coercion by seduction, especially by older women, led Dr. French to call for greater research into the line between seduction and coercion.
While participants who had been coerced verbally or with substances had higher rates of psychological distress (including depression, post-traumatic stress, and anxiety) compared to those who had not been sexually coerced, they did not have lower rates of self-esteem. "It may be the case that sexual coercion by women doesn't affect males' self-perceptions in the same way that it does when women are coerced. Instead it may inadvertently be consistent with expectations of masculinity and sexual desire, though more research is needed to better understand this relationship," said Dr. French.
Interestingly, rates of sexual coercion varied largely by ethnicity. Asian-American male participants reported lower rates of sexual coercion overall and especially of verbal coercion, similar to results of sexual coercion for Asian-American females. Latino males were more likely to have been coerced by verbal pressure, while white males were more likely to report an unwanted seduction. French called for youth prevention methods that accounted for racial and ethnic differences in coercion tactics, including the stereotype of Black men as hypermasculine and hypersexual.
http://powderroom.jezebel.com/almost-half-of-teen-boys-and-young-men-have-been-sexual-1556730508
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New York
Editorial
City progress, one measure at a time
Considering the profound complexity of the problem, no single strategy is going to stop violent crime in the City of Poughkeepsie and empower those who are serious about seeing the city make more progress.
But a series of sharp strategies can work. They include seeing the public stay engaged and push for solutions. They include cleaning up neighborhoods and taking part in other community projects. They include holding public meetings with elected officials and others so the city has a true sense of what needs to occur to make improvements.
One such meeting was held recently, at which Police Chief Ron Knapp said the city could reinstate community policing as soon as next year.
That surely would be a sign of progress. It is a relatively low-cost policing strategy that gets police officers out of their squad cars to walk the streets and focus on the areas that need the most attention, including parts of Main Street.
Nevertheless, the city needs help from higher levels of government to carry out and sustain the idea. The city has gotten grants for such programs before, but the money has come and gone over the years. This time, the city intends to apply for a federal grant from the office of Community Oriented Policing Services to hire additional police officers and federal representatives must do what they can to see such funds are available for such a critically important endeavor.
Knapp discussed this matter with a group of property owners and nonprofit leaders who are toiling to improve the Middle Main neighborhood, but who rightly want public officials to step up and play a bigger role.
Specifically, the group expressed dismay with the appearance of the Academy Street and Main Street corridor, and questioned why crime has persisted in that area, even though it is an obvious trouble spot that should be dealt with.
City officials have employed various tactics to fight crime, ranging from adding video cameras to the downtown area to working to get more guns off the street. But the city must go further, including hiring more minority and/or Spanish-speaking officers, something Knapp encourages and says he needs the community's help to spread the word to increase the pool of candidates.
Crime is a problem, and a serious one, but it is not the only challenge facing Poughkeepsie. The group also talked about littering, loitering and the general upkeep of the city and the need for basic, reliable services.
These neighborhood-based approaches are important to spur change. The city has been spending more time contemplating the future of the core downtown area, and tying Main and Market streets into what is occurring on the waterfront has to be major part of that discussion.
Specifically, the popularity of the Walkway Over the Hudson has unlimited potential and getting people to explore other parts of the city before or after they take that magnificent walk over Hudson River is imperative.
Many organizations, including the environmental group Scenic Hudson, the Dutchess County Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Dyson Foundation and Walkway officials, have been working toward that end with the creation of "Gateway signs" on both sides of the river. They are giving visitors an overview of the Walkway region and what places there are in close proximity and how to get there.
The Poughkeepsie Journal also has been part of the effort, recently publishing a "Rediscover Poughkeepsie" special section that called attention to the dining, tourism and historic options in the area. Journal staffers recently spent hours on the Walkway handing out the section and talking to residents and tourists alike about the city has to offer. Many were surprised and virtually all who stopped by were grateful for the effort and the information.
The city's victories will sometimes be hard-fought and not readily apparent, but they can and will happen over time, one meeting at a time, one event at a time. Those pushing for these improvements have taken on a big, important challenge and they must not give up.
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/opinion/editorials/2014/06/28/editorial-poughkeepsie-crime-walkway/11652301/
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Oregon
Beaverton officer takes 'chance of lifetime,' trains police in Bangladesh
by Sara Roth
BEAVERTON, Ore. – Mike Rowe never planned to visit Bangladesh.
The Beaverton police officer had traveled a bit, although he admits until recently, he's only been to “comfortable places” such as Jamaica and Mexico.
But through an officer training program funded by the US Department of Justice, Rowe was recently offered an opportunity to join two Portland officers in the developing nation.
On May 8, Rowe left for a month-long stint to help train members of the Bengali police force.
Culture Shock
“I wasn't really prepared for what I was about to experience.”
Rowe, an affable man who acts as the media spokesman for Beaverton police, said he talked with other officers who had participated in the program and extensively researched Bangladesh. But he was still shocked when he arrived.
Bangladesh is a country of around 161 million people – about half that of the United States.
Land-wise, it's much smaller.
“It's about the size of Illinois,” Rowe said. “I was not prepared for how crowded it was everywhere.”
The technology, too, was vastly unfamiliar. When he arrived, instead of a computer system, the customs officials used a giant ledger book to record his visit.
But Rowe quickly acclimated.
“After I got past the shock of it… I immediately fell in love with Bangladesh and the people,” he said.
Training Bengali Police
“They truly want to be able to grow”
Rowe and his colleagues flew into Bangladesh's largest city, Dhaka, but quickly left the sprawling metropolis for the Bangladesh Police Academy in Rajshahi, a relatively small city of around 850,000 at the edge of the river Padma.
The program at the academy is part of the International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program (ICITAP). It's one that the Portland Police Bureau has been involved with for three years.
Around 100 Portland officers have participated so far, around three a month. Rowe is the third Beaverton officer to take part.
The purpose of the program, Rowe said, is to supplement the country's one-year police education by showing them how U.S. officers handle community policing, ethics, human rights, interviewing and interrogation, and officer rescue.
Rowe readily admitted Bengalis have trust issues regarding the police, which is one of the issues the country is trying to address.
“They said, ‘Our citizens won't trust us,''' Rowe recalled.
Bengali police patrol in groups of five, on foot instead of by car. They have very specific locations in their beat, which means if they see a crime happening across the street that's not in their patrol area, they will not step in.
Also, due to the country's restrictions on firearms, Bengali officers carry assault-style rifles – but many don't wear bullet-proof vests.
The systematic issues can't be fixed in a month's visit, but Rowe said he really felt like he affected change.
“They truly want to be able to grow,” he said of the Bengali students. “When you were done [teaching], they would shake your hand. But if they felt really appreciative of you or what you taught them, after they shake your hand, they take their right hand and basically put it to their heart.”
“That is a huge honor because they're basically telling you, ‘Thank you, you touched me,'” he said. “I knew as soon as a hand was going to the center of their chest that I made an impact.”
Exploring life in Bangladesh
“I did not meet one Bengali who didn't greet me with a smile”
Rowe was surprised at how readily he was accepted into Bengali culture. He was welcomed into homes and offered the best food and goods they had to offer.
“The majority of the Bengali people had very little compared to what we expect here in Oregon,” Rowe said. “With this little, they would still offer me the last tea and crackers they had if I were a guest.”
He even had the chance to attend a Bengali wedding, where he and his fellow officers were “treated as if we were members of the bride's family.”
Rowe returned to Beaverton in June, but he said his experiences will stick with him forever.
“I really learned from them to be happy with what I have in my life, no matter how little or how much,” he said. “I'm glad I left my comfort zone and took a chance of a lifetime.”
http://www.kgw.com/news/Beaverton-officer-helps-train-police-in-Bangladesh--265140501.html
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Arizona
Mexican police chopper fires at Ariz. border agents
The FBI is investigating Thursday's incident
by Astrid Galvan and E. Eduardo Castillo
TUCSON, Ariz. — Mexican law enforcement on Thursday crossed into Arizona by helicopter and fired two shots at U.S. border agents, a border patrol union leader says.
A Mexican law enforcement chopper crossed about 100 yards north into the Arizona desert, the U.S. Border Patrol said in a statement. The helicopter then fired two shots on the Tohono O'Odham Indian Nation, which sits on the border. Border patrol union leaders say the Mexicans fired at agents but that none of them were hurt.
However, Mexican authorities have denied shooting at agents and say they were under attack during a mission to find smugglers on the border.
Tomás Zerón, the director of the Mexican attorney general's office investigative office, said that Mexican military and federal police who were conducting an operation on a ranch in Altar, Sonora, were shot at by criminals. Mexican authorities never fired any weapons and in fact never crossed into the U.S. side of the border, he said.
Art del Cueto, president of the local border patrol union, said four agents were in a marked patrol vehicle when they were shot at.
"They could say they didn't fire at the agents intentionally. But for them to say that they were no shots fired within the United States, toward the United States Border Patrol, is a lie. They got in contact with our managers and apologized for the incident," del Cueto said.
The Mexican helicopter was 15 yards from the border agents when they were came under fire, Del Cueto said. He's also concerned that Tucson sector officials didn't notify the next shift of border agents that there had been a shooting, he said.
"... I think our managers within the area should have definitely informed the oncoming shift this had happened. We're always on high alert, but I think it would raise a fear level for our agents," del Cueto said.
Sebastián Galván, a spokesman for the Mexican Consulate in Tucson, said the office was gathering information but did not have any details yet.
The shots were fired at a time when border security has become a heated debate again as thousands of Central American immigrants, many of who are unaccompanied minors or women with young children, have crossed through Mexico into Texas, overwhelming border agents who lack the resources to process so many people.
Arizona Speaker of the House Andy Tobin, a Republican, said he's glad nobody was hurt, "but this incident clearly demonstrates a lack of clear policy and coordination with Mexico on border security."
This incident was not the first one in which the Mexican military has veered across the international boundary.
In January, U.S. border agents confronted two heavily armed Mexican soldiers who crossed 50 yards inside Arizona, the Los Angeles Times reported. A standoff ensued, but nobody was hurt.
In 2011, more than 30 uniformed Mexican soldiers in military vehicles crossed the Rio Grande without authorization in an incident that was believed to be inadvertent.
The FBI is investigating Thursday's incident.
http://www.policeone.com/border-patrol/articles/7329464-Mexican-police-chopper-fires-at-Ariz-border-agents/
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Border Patrol sees staffing imbalance
Border Patrol does not have the staff to process all the immigrants crossing in the Rio Grande Valley, but faraway colleagues have time to spare
by Elliot Spagat
SAN DIEGO — The downcast faces on computer screens are 1,500 miles away at a Border Patrol station in McAllen, Texas: a 20-year old Honduran woman arrested rafting across the Rio Grande and a 23-year-old man caught under similar circumstances.
Four agents wearing headsets reel through a list of personal questions, spending up to an hour on each adult and even longer on children. On an average day, hundreds of migrants are questioned on camera by agents in San Diego and other stations on the U.S.-Mexico border.
The long-distance interviews — introduced last year in El Paso, Texas, and extended to California — are a response to the dramatic increase of Central Americans crossing the border in Texas that also has flooded immigration facilities with hundreds of women and children. The Border Patrol does not have the staff to process all the immigrants crossing in the Rio Grande Valley, but faraway colleagues have time to spare.
The remote video processing reveals a perpetual predicament that has long bedeviled the Border Patrol. Many agents wind up stationed in places where crossing activity is slowest because the Border Patrol struggles to keep up with constantly shifting migration patterns.
One example of the staffing mismatch: the roughly 2,500 agents in the San Diego sector arrested 97 immigrants illegally crossing the border on June 14, according to an internal document reviewed by The Associated Press. On the same day, the roughly 3,200 agents in the Rio Grande Valley made 1,422 arrests.
President Barack Obama will ask Congress for more than $2 billion to respond to the flood of immigrants illegally entering the U.S. through the Rio Grande Valley and for new powers to deal with returning unaccompanied children, a White House official said Saturday. A letter will be sent to Congress on Monday, said the official who was not authorized to speak by name and discussed the requests on condition of anonymity. The exact amount and how it will be spent will come after Congress returns from recess on July 7. Whether any funds will go toward border staffing is unknown.
In San Diego, the video processing is a welcome change of pace. Arrests are at 45-year lows and many agents go entire shifts without finding anyone. Cesar Rodriguez, who joined the Border Patrol in 2010, said eight hours fly by since he gave up his assignment watching a stretch of scrub-covered hills east of San Diego and took on a new assignment to process the immigrants via video.
"If there's nothing going on, what are you going to do? You're just staring at the fence," Rodriguez said in his new office, whose parking lot offers sweeping views of hillside homes in Tijuana, Mexico.
A few feet away, Victor Nunez says he interviewed a woman carrying a 4-month-old child and spent his last shift working on a group of 93 people that crossed the Rio Grande at once. Such activity was unheard of on his overnight shift patrolling the quiet mountains near San Diego.
"I feel like we're helping out our agents," said Nunez, who joined the Border Patrol in 2011. "It's a big problem going on there."
The McAllen station is designed to hold a few hundred people, but often teems with more than 1,000 who spill into hallways and outside. Migrants have been sent to stations in quieter parts of Texas, and they were overwhelmed. Overcrowding at the Laredo station prompted a visit from the fire marshal last month.
The shift to the Rio Grande Valley is part of a long-running trend where immigrants and smugglers change crossing locations faster than the government responds.
San Diego was the hot spot until the mid-1990s, when 1,000 agents were added there. After traffic moved to Arizona, staffing in Tucson ballooned under President George W. Bush, who doubled the Border Patrol close to its current size of more than 21,000 agents.
Some warn against bulking up in South Texas because smuggling routes will inevitably change along the 1,954-mile border.
"They don't want to transfer a mass amount of agents and open a gap somewhere else where we have control," said David Aguilar, the Border Patrol chief from 2004 to 2010.
Forced transfers must be negotiated with the National Border Patrol Council, the union which represents agents, and have not happened on a large scale.
The Border Patrol can move agents for 35 days — longer by mutual agreement — but those temporary assignments are expensive. More than 100 agents were sent to Rio Grande Valley this spring for short stays.
Voluntary transfers were an option but have not been used widely in South Texas. The Border Patrol began a campaign about 10 years ago, partly aimed at boosting morale, to offer more transfers if agents moved themselves. And, as agents quit or retire, the vast majority of new hires who replace them are now assigned to Rio Grande Valley.
The Border Patrol introduced video processing in El Paso in April 2013 to address the surge in Rio Grande Valley, where most border crossers are from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala and many are unaccompanied children. It expanded the processing to El Centro, California, in March, and to San Diego last month.
Between 230 and 500 people have been processed by video each day since it was introduced last year, but lack of detention space in Rio Grande Valley recently prompted authorities to fly migrants to El Paso and Arizona for processing, said Jackie Wasiluk, a spokeswoman for the Border Patrol's parent agency, Customs and Border Protection. The agency said Friday that it will also fly migrants to California for processing.
Costs are not an issue with video processing. Headsets and cameras are $70 apiece, and it's a small sacrifice to supervisors.
Agents use a long questionnaire that aims to establish identity — where they lived, where they went to school, where they went to church. Most migrants don't have identification, so U.S. authorities must convince consulates to issue passports. Otherwise, they can't be deported.
Throughout their shifts, agents trade instant messages with counterparts in Rio Grande Valley.
"If you have time, can you adjust the camera? It was too high. Ready for another case if you have one," typed Jake Garcia, a San Diego agent for five years.
His counterpart was talking to a group of migrants. Garcia swirled his chair for something rare in his new role: He took a break.
http://www.policeone.com/border-patrol/articles/7333310-Border-Patrol-sees-staffing-imbalance/
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Pennsylvania
Boy with brain tumor becomes cop for day
8-year-old Joey Fabus — who loves police officers — jumped into his role with a uniform, badge and handcuffs
by Matthew Santoni
BETHEL PARK, Pa. — Joey Fabus' parents say he loves police officers. And garbage collectors.
It was the Bethel Park Police Department who made the 8-year-old, who has been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor, an honorary member on Tuesday.
When Community Police Officer Tom Rigetti learned of Joey's situation, he worked with the boy's family and Chief John Mackey to make Joey an honorary officer for a day. The role was made complete with a uniform, badge and handcuffs.
"We're just trying to give him the best life possible right now," said Joey's mother, Cindy.
Family and friends wore camouflage T-shirts for "Little Joey's Army," a charity started by his godmother, Jessica Rosser of Dormont, to help the family while Joey's father, David, stays home from work to care for him and take him to radiation treatments.
They followed and filmed him throughout the day, along with police officers from Bethel Park and Upper St. Clair. Many were there on their time off to support Joey.
"I feel safer now that you're part of our police department," said Magisterial District Judge Ron Arnoni, who swore Joey in as an officer.
Arnoni, a former investigator for the state Office of Attorney General, gave the newest officer a pair of his old handcuffs and a model police car, and later let Joey pose for pictures wearing his judge's robes.
After being sworn in, Joey rode in Rigetti's patrol car with his parents, working the lights and sirens, and pulling over Rigetti's daughter, Mia, 19, for allegedly running a stop sign in front of the municipal building.
Joey took Mia's license and registration, and filled out a traffic citation, then went back to the district judge's office. He testified, recommending that the citation be dismissed because Mia was polite and apologetic.
"We saw somebody who ran a stop sign," Joey said. "We pulled her over, gave her a ticket, but then we let her go."
His parents initially were worried about Joey getting too tired to make it through the afternoon of activities, but he grinned through everything and continued onward.
"He just keeps going, and hopefully he's going to keep on going," Rigetti said.
After a little more riding in the patrol car, he strode through the door of the Bethel Park Community Center to perform a "safety patrol."
He was met with more supporters' applause, then a proclamation from Bethel Park Mayor Jack Allen that Tuesday was Joey Fabus Day.
In addition to Tuesday's activities, Little Joey's Army arranged for him to ride in the Dormont Memorial Day Parade in a rented Camaro, organized a charity golf outing for the family's benefit on June 22 and is holding a charity concert with the Justin Fabus Band on July 19 at the Crowne Plaza in Bethel Park.
"It's amazing, the amount of support we've gotten from the entire (Bethel Park police) department," said Joseph Fabus, Joey's uncle and a Pittsburgh police detective. "We talk a great deal about brotherhood, and that's what this is about today."
http://www.policeone.com/cancer/articles/7322445-Boy-with-brain-tumor-becomes-cop-for-day/
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Facebook Experimented Users To Study Newsfeed Emotions
by Aman Jain
Facebook manipulated 700k News Feed to study the emotional side of users. Users might object on being used as guinea pigs for conducting the research.
Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) stated in a research paper that it conducted an experiment that included the accounts of approximately 700,000 users to test the effects of transferring their emotions online. The researchers at Facebook changed the News Feed of these users to examine “whether exposure to emotions led people to change their own posting behaviors.”
Facebook alters algorithm
The total number of users was segregated, where one group received more positive posts and another who received the more emotionally negative posts from their friends. Facebook has not altered the actual posts, which could still be read from friends' profiles, but instead it created an algorithm that edited the content viewed by targeted users on their News Feed.
The social networking company did an interesting observation where those who saw positive content did more positive activity on their Facebook on an average compared to those who were shown more negative postings in their News Feed. While it has been proved that an individual goes upset seeing his or her friend sad, this also holds true on Facebook where the researchers observed that “textual content alone appears to be a sufficient channel” for the negative effect.
Is this breach of privacy?
According to Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), this is the first experiment that shows this kind of results and is one of the largest scale to date. However, users may not be delighted to hear this. The company said that the users grant permission to the website, when they sign up. Even then conducting experiment without informing the account holder can be seen as an abuse of the social network's popularity and position.
Data scientist Adam Kramer, who is also the co-editor of the report, told BBC, “We felt that it was important to investigate the common worry that seeing friends post positive content leads to people feeling negative or left out.” Also, during the study, the researchers were concerned that the negative posts of the friends may cause disengagement of users from Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB).
Kramer accepted the fact that Facebook could not convey its reason behind conducting the research properly to the users. Kramer said that he understands why some people have issues with the report and that he along with his co-authors are very sorry for the way the paper described the research.
http://www.valuewalk.com/2014/06/facebook-inc-fb-experiment-on-users-to-study-newsfeed-emotions/ 
