NCJ Number
219567
Journal
THE POLICE CHIEF Volume: 74 Issue: 4 Dated: April 2007 Pages: 56-58
Date Published
April 2007
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This article describes Sugar Land, Texas’ model Internet safety awareness program which uses education, enforcement, and prevention to help parents, families, and communities protect children from online predators.
Abstract
The model used by Sugar Land can easily be replicated. A partnership of local government, local law enforcement, State law enforcement, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, schools, and parents is actually an easy mix. Every one of the entities has a vested interest in the protection of the Nation’s youth. A youth-driven, peer-presented education effort is the most effective way to communicate with and involve young people. Sugar Land’s grassroots initiative grew from the work of the Mayor’s Youth Advisory Council (MYAC). MYAC identified safety as a top concern of young people in Sugar Land. The mayor’s officer, the police department, and the Texas Attorney General’s Cyber Crime Unit joined with MYAC to form a plan addressing Internet safety. Two components were developed under this initiative, the educational presentations component and the enforcement component. Under the educational presentation component a packet titled, “Keep Kids E-Safe Toolkit: A Community Internet Safety Program for Students and Adults” was developed. Like many agencies this size (small), Sugar Land had little experience in child predator stings involving the Internet. However, the State Attorney General placed a priority on the crime and made the resources of the Cyber Crime Unit available to Sugar Land. Sugar Land’s Internet safety awareness campaign is a cross-sector collaboration involving all levels of government, nonprofit organizations, and the business community.