Polk Sheriff Launches MySpace Page to Thwart Sexual Offense

In an effort to curb online sexual exploitation of children using MySpace, one of the most frequented social networking sites, the law enforcement department of the Judd's Polk County created its own page on the site.

No other Sheriff's Office in Metro Orlando than that of Polk County, which aggressively monitors the Internet, has ever created a MySpace page of its own.

According to the Sheriff's detectives, the young adults who possess their own page on MySpace should add the agency's name as the first one in their friends list so that any sexual predator surfing the site would get alert.

Just as teenagers personalize their pages with photos, music and video, in the same way, the agency has inserted in its MySpace page Darude's electronic music show, a slideshow projecting deputies at a dance party, and messages from viewers.

In just a few weeks since the Office of the Sheriff's announcement of the page, about 100 people included the law enforcement agency's name in their lists. One such person, Richard Hamlet, living in Brooksville said that he put in the agency to his list because he appreciates its intention.

Hamlet said that he strongly believes the idea would safeguard some children but as there are many crooks online, it would be a difficult task to catch them all. But if the agency succeeds in getting one, it would mean at least one less. Orlandosentinel.com published this on July 20, 2007.

President of the Florida Association of Computer Crime Investigators (FACCI), Doug Rehman, believes such pages on MySpace would be able to foil predators' activities provided the law enforcement body is prominently placed on the teens' friends list, as published by Orlandosentinel.com.

The FACCI was formed to provide training, share resources, produce legal updates, and facilitate opportunities for networking to help Florida law enforcement bodies and corporations in carrying out investigations on computer crime.

Unless the sexually motivated crooks try to reach all the names in the friends list, they would not show up their activities on the main site page that the child has created for himself/herself, Rehman said, according to Orlandosentinel.com.

Related article: Police Arrests Six Suspects Associated With TJX Credit Scam

» SPAMfighter News - 8/2/2007