More Cops on Internet Patrol Please
Internet sexual predators and child pornographers present daunting new challenges for law enforcement. Offenders who victimize children find the Internet to be a nefariously invaluable tool for seeking victims and trafficking unlawful images. Since the meteoric rise of the Internet in the 90's, law enforcement has been slow to respond to the growing threats from sexual predators and child pornographers. More cops are needed to fight this battle.
The basic elements of the Internet crimes of child pornography and of enticing minors are still not taught at most law enforcement training academies. Very few police agencies devote full-time staff to Internet sex crimes even though studies indicate that Internet use has hit an all-time high.
In 2006, about 147 million Americans were Internet users and frighteningly, each day, one in seven young Internet users were enticed by predators who solicited them during their on-line activities.
By comparison, circa 1900, police traffic enforcement units had already begun to emerge at a time when there were only 8,000 cars on the roads and the nations population was only 76 million.
Law enforcements' response to crime is often motivated by that which can be seen and counted. Internet crimes however, are quiet and invisible to the public, unlike the results of an automobile accident that can be viewed by anyone happening by.
Today, if one in seven drivers were aggressively smashing into other cars, public pressure and the insurance industry would have law enforcement officers standing at the ready on every street and intersection. The U.S. has thousands of traffic-cops roaming the roads every day, how about some more cops on Internet-patrol protecting kids?
Dr. Kardasz can be contacted by e-mail at: kardasz@kardasz.org