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April 03, 2006

Internet 'friends' - Myspace

04/02/2006
Internet 'friends'
THOMAS DIMOPOULOS , The Saratogian

So says one self-described 17-year-old girl in Saratoga Springs whose favorite team is the Blue Streaks, her favorite magazine, Cosmopolitan, and whose future mate would be 'a boy who would beat the crap out of someone if they called me fat.'

The writer is one of hundreds of teens in Saratoga County and millions of people everywhere who are using the Internet to talk to friends, make new ones and bare their souls to total strangers.

But who's real and who isn't?

'The problem is that kids have this false sense of security online,' said Joseph Donahue, a State Police investigator who works in the Albany headquarters of the Computer Crime Unit's ICAC (Internet Crimes Against Children) Task Force.

'If they're not meeting people face-to-face, they feel like they're 8 feet tall and bulletproof. They feel nobody can bother them, but that's naïve and makes them much more vulnerable.'

What has raised the concern of law enforcement is MySpace.com. Since it was launched three years ago, the Web site now counts more than 60 million members, and is growing daily. The majority of those congregating are teenage girls, according to Donahue.

The secret to its popularity is in its simplicity. With an e-mail account, users can join up and create their own personal pages, post photographs, movies, music and share diary-like commentary with the world.

Using the site's extensive search engine, millions of users can be found around the globe, sharing like-minded interests.

Thousands of online friends are in the Saratoga region alone, and they find one another by school name or any number of area clubs. Many sites share frank discussions and photographs.

'You can pose as anyone you want online and there's all kinds of scams predators can use,' Donahue said.

'Come summertime, they'll be online claiming to be kids. 'I'm a new student,' they'll say. 'Who's a good teacher?' They have learned to use technology very well.'

Personal info online

Too much information is being offered for 'the bad guys,' Donahue believes.

Here, for instance, is an excerpt from a site that was easily located by this reporter, with the names deleted but the punctuation and grammar kept as it was posted:

'My name's xxxx xxxxx. i live in toga, new york and im 15. i row. its like my life. i love shopping and going to the movies and hanging out with my friends. my best friend is xxxxxx xxxxx. ive known her since i was 4. I love summer. i have a house on lake xxxxxxx.'

The writer describes herself as straight, 5'5', white, a Virgo, and a high school student in the Class of 2008 who'd like to have children some day.

Although dangerous cases related to MySpace are few, entries loaded with personal information worry law en-forcers.

'The old notion of a predator hiding behind a tree wearing a raincoat is a thing of the past,' Donohue warned. 'Today, they don't have to worry about being seen. They can safely stay online and slowly groom the child fairly anonymously.'

In March, a 48-year old California man was booked for investigation of attempted lewd and lascivious conduct with a child he thought he was meeting on MySpace.

A 22-year-old New York City man and 39-year-old Pennsylvania man were both arrested on allegations they had illegal sexual contact with minors they met through the Web site. And according to The Middletown Press, police in Connecticut are investigating seven cases of sexual assault of minors by alleged MySpace predators.

A few years ago, it was chat rooms that posed the most concern.

Today, the popular places for people to congregate are Web sites like Xanga, FaceBook and MySpace. Many people post their birthdates and name clubs they belong to, as well as likes, dislikes and goals. They describe where they work, what they do and where they go for recreation. Many use their real names along with identifiable photographs, some of an intimate nature.

'Don't U wish UR girlfriend was hot like me?' asks the self-professed 26-year-old 'Sexy Bitch from Stillwater' posing in her underwear.

'Uncle John' goes to Saratoga Springs High School, Class of '08, and has a fixation for the music of the Grateful Dead. He posted a message about everyone coordinating to take a specific day off from school. He wasn't starting the idea he said, only asking if anyone had heard the circulating rumor. 'Think about it,' he wrote. 'Teachers show up and nobody in class.'

Another group from the same school call themselves 'Reefer Tokers of Saratoga Springs.' It is a group small enough to gather for a photograph in which they smile back at the camera with bottles of beer and what appears to be a handgun.

While Donahue hears from parents who are concerned about photographs of minors who are posing with alcohol or drugs, he said it is difficult to prove that laws have actually been broken.

'A lot of the problems that parents complain about are really parenting issues,' Donohue said. 'They say, 'There's a naked picture of my 15-year-old daughter on there' -- but it's their daughter. Parents can be ignorant. They go out and buy a $500 computer, throw it in the kid's bedroom and forget about it.

'The kids don't realize that MySpace is not 'Their Space' -- they're out there in the public domain. It's not private, it's not their own little environment,' Donahue said. 'What goes on there goes up worldwide.'

Teens feel protected

Some area teens with MySpace sites say they are aware of potential dangers and have taken steps to protect themselves.

'Almost everyone has it,' said Casey Slone, a sophomore at Saratoga Springs High School, who put up his site last summer. 'I used it a lot when I first started, but these days, I just check it out if I get a request.'

Requests come in for people wanting to be 'friends.' Users then have the option to either 'invite' the friend in, or to refuse.

Users also have the option of choosing whether to make their site private -- where only a select, invited list can enter -- or public, where anyone can join.

'I don't take requests from people wanting to be a friend from anybody who is not from Saratoga because you just don't know who to trust out there,' Slone said. 'I keep a message board for people to say hello and I used to have pictures up but I took them down because I heard about a lot of the dangers from teachers and parents.'

K.C. Conway is an 18-year-old senior at the school who discovered the site as a good resource for his band. He started his site in December and counts 82 friends among members.

'My parents say it's OK'

'The good thing is you can meet new people and make new friends,' Conway said. 'My parents know about my site and they say it's OK as long as I don't put up a picture or my real name.'

Maddie Choppa, a junior at the high school, set up her MySpace account in November.

'Mine is public. That way, my friends from school can find me on there,' she said.

'It's a good way to get to know your classmates better. People put up posts and surveys go around, but all of my friends are people that I know,' Choppa said. 'My experience has only been good. If you find provocative pictures, you can report them to MySpace headquarters and they will take care of that.'

At Saratoga Springs High School, a block on the computers prevents students from logging on to MySpace at school.

'It is the new wave of communication for this generation,' said Principal Frank Crowley. 'I have received a number of complaints from parents that there is a lot of personal information that students are including that could reveal personal information to the wrong people. For security reasons, we're very concerned about the information people are putting up on that site.'

So are parents.

'What scares me is that children seem to have this double personality,' said one mother whose daughter is a junior at Spa Catholic High School.

'You go on there and read that they say they're fat or ugly and that they lack self-esteem,' she said. She wonders what college and employment recruiters would think if they checked into an applicant's history of postings.

'They ask questions like: 'How many times have you had sex? When was the last time you got drunk?' When I saw this stuff I felt bad for these kids. It seems like they're crying out for someone to talk to,' she said, insisting her daughter take down her own site after searching the computer's history of sites she was visiting.

'There are pictures of kids from (area) schools at parties with beer bottles in their hands, doing shots of liquor, and some boys making remarks that were just rude,' said the mother. 'Are their parents oblivious to this garbage or do they just not care? There's no respect out there -- not for one another, not for religion and not with any morals. ... But my daughter thinks it's no big deal.'

'My mom didn't like it because of the swearing and some of the surveys that people took,' said the daughter, who is in her upper teens. 'MySpace is a good way of keeping in touch with your friends. I think if you're old enough, you realize what's sketchy and what's not. When you're younger than 16, you don't really know what's going on. But most of my friends have their sites set to 'private.' People need to make a request to be your friend.'

Grace Killion is a ninth-grader at the Waldorf School of Saratoga Springs. She has about 90 friends with whom she keeps in contact. Her 15-year-old classmate, Hannah Anteler, finds it a good resource to promote her band.

Both say they are careful about who they choose to be online friends.

'These are all people that I have met or have known for awhile,' Killion said. 'I think parents and teachers assume it's a dangerous place because there's that possibility of something happening. But kids can go private, and decrease the chances of something happening.'

Says Grace's mother, Carolyn: 'I don't look at MySpace any differently than I do sending your child to the mall alone the first time. You have to teach your child about other people, but then you have to trust them about what they have learned.'

Weighing the pros, cons

There are indeed two sides to these sites.

'MySpace is both extremely helpful and potentially hazardous,' said Richard DeMartino, psychologist at Saratoga Springs High School. 'On the one hand, it caters to the developmental needs of kids: Who am I? Where am I going?

There is the ability to connect, to belong and MySpace does a great job in developing that -- but with some of the information being so easily identifiable, they've just given this information to creepy people as well.

'The goal of teenagers is not to get hurt by somebody. It is to talk to people, and in the case of someone who may be shy, there is the ability to 'meet' people without having to have that face-to-face contact,' DeMartino said. As for the dangers, he said, 'There is a disconnect. They disassociate themselves from it. Kids tend to deny that it could happen to them.'

Lt. Gary Forward stood inside the Saratoga Springs police station trying to strike the delicate balance of being connected to the world and being protected from it.

'Kids are so trusting by nature,' said the lieutenant. 'In a perfect world, it would be a beautiful thing -- but this world isn't perfect,' he said. 'If it was, I wouldn't have a job.'

Retrieved April 2, 2006 from http://www.saratogian.com/site/printerFriendly.cfm?brd=1169&dept_id=17708&newsid=16418212

©The Saratogian 2006

Posted by Dr. Kardasz at 06:15 AM |


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Investigating Internet Crimes Against Children

The Internet Control Dial

April 3, 2006, Dr. Frank Kardasz

I have had the opportunity to speak with citizen groups about Internet crime on many occasions, and at the end of each presentation audience members ask questions. There is often some senior individual in the group who raises a hand and asks with a concerned mature voice, "Why don't they just switch that whole dang Internet thing off!"...as if we have a control panel somewhere with a dial that we can turn and it will regulate Internet misconduct.

Legislation is the closest thing we have to an Internet control dial. Opponents of Internet control argue that regulations are costly, imperfect and draconian violations of constitutional freedoms. While absolute government control over the Internet is not only improper in a Democracy but as a practical matter impossible in the real world, I sometimes wonder what the framers of the Constitution would have thought if they had known what we now know about computers and the Internet. Would they have permitted the Internet crimes against children that we are witnessing today?
 
Survey of ICAC Affiliates

On March 31, 2006 I sent a survey to Internet crimes against children (ICAC) investigators at all of our nationwide affiliates throughout the United States.

The survey asked one question:

What law could be created or revised to best assist the investigators who work cases involving Internet crimes against children?

I received 35 responses from detectives, special agents and prosecutors in 17 states and the District of Columbia. The most frequent response involves data storage and retrieval by Internet service providers (ISP). The second most frequent response involved jurisdiction as it pertains to subpoenas and search warrants to Internet service providers.The following paragraphs briefly discuss each issue.

1. Data Storage and Retrieval by Internet Service Providers

Investigators need ISP's to retain subscriber and content information so that when legal process in the form of a subpoena or search warrant are obtained and served, there is information remaining with the ISP that will help investigators find the offender. Most ISP organizations are operated by conscientious and professional business people. Most of them are horrified by Internet crimes against children. Some ISP's have graciously extended themselves to help investigators. Some reluctant ISP's will only assist to the extent that the law mandates them to assist. Presently, the law requiring ISP's to report (42 USC 13032) is weak. 

Because mandated data retention is a bottom-line cost issue, some ISP's will not comply unless a law is passed.  Mandated data retention is not a draconian privacy violation. Law enforcement simply needs the data retained but not disclosed, except in response to legal process.

Internet industry professionals may cite the financial burden of data storage, but consider the potential human cost of not retaining data.  For example, when law enforcement is seeking an Internet predator identifiable only by the subscriber information associated with his screen name, but the responsible ISP did not preserve the subscriber information, the investigation ends while the predator remains free.

Recommendations

A. Mandate that Internet service providers retain information about subscribers for at least one year.

B. Mandate that Internet service providers respond to subpoenas involving crimes against children investigations within one week of receiving a subpoena and more quickly under exigent circumstances.

Conclusion

The law enforcement personnel who are tasked with protecting children on-line need additional legal tools  to help navigate those dark alleys of the Internet where they are working to help protect children. I recognize that turning the Internet control dial comes with a cost, but failing to turn the dial carries a greater human cost.

Posted by Dr. Kardasz at 05:47 AM |


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April 01, 2006

Marco, Florida - Police Officer Honored for his Service

naplesnews.com, By Tracy X. Miguel, Thursday, March 30, 2006

There is only so much people can do without one day getting recognized. For Marco Island Police Department Cpl. Mike Peña, that day came Wednesday.

Peña was the first of three public servants in Collier County whom an entourage surprised at work with the Distinguished Public Service Award 2006 when he was called into a meeting room. More than one dozen officers, award committee members and friends waited for Peña to walk into the room at the station.

“Wow. What a surprise. I don’t even know what I’m here for,” said Peña, nodding his head. Award committee member Charles Connolly and committee chairman Martin De St. Pierre, vice president and trust officer of Bank of America Trust Services, presented the award to Peña.

Connolly told Peña it was an honor for him, a former police commissioner from New York, to present the award to a younger police officer. Upon receiving the award, Peña said, “Everything I do here, I do it for the community.”

Peña, who lives on Marco Island, said he had no idea he was about to receive an award, yet felt honored. “He deserves it. He is very humble,” said Peña’s wife, Mabel. For the third year the Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce, Naples Daily News, Bank of America, Edison College and other organizations are sponsoring the awards. The awards were developed to honor public service workers for their dedication.

The awards are given to one member of Collier County law enforcement, a fire safety employee and an emergency medical services employee who have performed an extraordinary act of service that went beyond normal expectations. About 50 nominations were submitted for the three categories by residents and those working in the professions. A total of 24 nominations were received for the law enforcement category, said Brenda Borchardt, the Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce vice president of programs.

Three committees reviewed the nominations and determined the three recipients of the annual Distinguished Public Service Award 2006. One by one, each recipient will be surprised at work with the arrival of the committee to acknowledge their outstanding work.

Peña, who is an officer in charge at the Marco Island Police Department, was nominated by his supervisor, Capt. Thom Carr. Peña started his law enforcement career in 1980 in Miami. He has been working in Marco Island for more than three years.

Carr, who nominated three officers from the department, said Peña is one of the outstanding officers whom the department consistently recognizes as officer of the month for his commitment to the community. In 2005, Peña solved several major cases, including recovery of $30,000 worth of stolen appliances and locating a suspect who had been charged with sexually assaulting a child.

“As long as we keep on getting guys like him we are in good shape,” said Carr. The second recipient of the a
ward will be surprised at work Friday. When the last recipient will be surprised has not been announced.

Naples Daily News and NDN Productions. Published in Naples, Florida, USA by the E.W. Scripps Co.
Retrieved April 1, 2006 from http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2006/mar/30/marco_police_officer_honored_his_service/?print=1

Posted by Dr. Kardasz at 02:26 PM |


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Framingham, MA - Hero Cop Escapes Crash

Milford Daily News, By Jennifer Kavanaugh
Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Framingham, MA - A routine traffic stop yesterday quickly turned into a life-or-death drama for a police officer when a sport utility vehicle careened toward his cruiser and flipped over trapping four occupants. Five people went to the hospital as a result of the 1:45 p.m., two-car crash at Concord and Sewell streets. And in the space of a few minutes, Officer Lester Baker went from trying to escape the crash to rescuing the four people from the Isuzu.

"He was a true hero, a life saver," said Lt. Paul Shastany, the department’s spokesman. "He was risking his life even though it could have exploded into flames at any time." Baker had pulled over a car on Concord Street to write a speeding ticket. After writing the ticket and sending the driver on his way, Baker sat in his cruiser finishing up the paperwork.

The Isuzu Rodeo was headed north on Concord Street, behind a van with one man in it. The Isuzu passed the van on the left even though there was only one lane, Shastany said. The Isuzu’s driver couldn’t pull in front of the van safely, and the two vehicles collided, he said. Baker saw the Isuzu hurtle toward his cruiser, Shastany said, and put the car in gear. He barely got out of the way before the SUV flipped and landed right where the cruiser was sitting. The van remained upright. When Baker got out of his cruiser, he saw smoke coming out of the Isuzu, and pulled three of the people out, Shastany said. He had to cut a seat belt to free the fourth person.

Assistant Fire Chief John Magri said one of passenger in the Isuzu was seriously, but not critically, injured. That passenger and another person were sent to an out-of-town hospital, he said, while the other three were taken to MetroWest Medical Center. He said it appears all five people in the accident were wearing seat belts.

The identity of the five people involved in the accident and details about their injuries were not available yesterday evening. The accident is still under investigation, police said. Shastany said the accident would have been worse if not for Baker’s quick actions. The incident earned him the praise of passersby, he said. "Les does not like this kind of attention," Shastany said. "He’s a very humble guy."

(Jennifer Kavanaugh can be reached at 508-626-4416 or at jkavanau@cnc.com.)
Retrieved April 1, 2006 from http://www.milforddailynews.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=88917&format=text

Posted by Dr. Kardasz at 02:19 PM |


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Officer's suit alleges retaliation, drug coverup

Billings Gazette, By Greg Tuttle,  The Gazette Staff, Wednesday, March 29, 2006.

Billings, Montana

A Billings police officer alleges in a lawsuit that his bosses retaliated against him when he reported that fellow officers had taken illegal drugs from the department and had given them to a civilian. One command officer is alleged to have warned the officer to "just keep this between us," according to the lawsuit.

Officer Steven Feuerstein filed the lawsuit Tuesday in Yellowstone County District Court. The lawsuit names as defendants the city of Billings, the Billings Police Department, former police chiefs Ron Tussing and Jerry Archer, interim Police Chief Rich St. John, Capt. Dave Hinkel and Officer Dave Cardillo.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified monetary damages and lists six causes of action, including state and federal constitutional civil rights violations, workplace safety violations, negligent supervision and malice. It also seeks a court-ordered injunction preventing the Police Department from any further alleged acts of retaliation.

"We obviously will respond and defend the city and the defendants," interim City Administrator Tina Volek said Wednesday. The lawsuit is the latest in a serious of legal claims made against the Billings Police Department.

Three female officers have filed discrimination complaints with the state Human Rights Bureau. A state investigator recently dismissed a majority of the officers' claims, but found there was evidence to support one claim of discrimination. Two of the female officers last month filed new state claims alleging ongoing discrimination and retaliation. The cases are pending before the Human Rights Bureau.

Feuerstein is a patrol officer with 14 years of experience at the Billings Police Department. He is represented by Great Falls attorney Elizabeth Best, who could not be reached for comment Wednesday.  Feuerstein states in the lawsuit that in February 2002 he reported to his immediate supervisor, then-Lt. Dave Hinkel, that two fellow officers had removed illegal drugs and given them to a civilian, who is not identified in the document. The lawsuit states the two officers, who also are not named in the suit, were involved sexually with the civilian.

When told of his concerns, Feuerstein alleges in the lawsuit, Hinkel responded by saying: "Let's just keep this between us." Hinkel, now a captain in charge of the department's detective division, could not be reached for comment Wednesday. St. John declined to comment.

The next month, Feuerstein states, he met with Tussing and a consultant who was reviewing the department's ethics policies at the consultant's hotel room. During the meeting, Feuerstein states, he told Tussing about the missing drugs and Hinkel's response. "Tussing took no action in response, instead simply passing the information reported by (Feuerstein) to then Deputy Chief Archer," the lawsuit states. "Archer did not take any action or investigate."

Tussing, who resigned as police chief last year and was subsequently elected mayor, could not be reached for comment Wednesday. Archer, who is now retired, declined to comment. The lawsuit states Feuerstein then reported the allegations of missing drugs to a federal Drug Enforcement Agency agent in June 2002.

In 2004 and 2005, Feuerstein repeated the allegation to then-City Administrator Kristoff Bauer, Assistant City Administrator Tina Volek and Deputy City Attorney Bonnie Sutherland, according to the lawsuit. "He further reported to them that money had been illegally removed from the Police Department evidence room and deposited in what he believed was a Police Foundation fund set up by Tussing," the lawsuit states. "He also reported that this misconduct had resulted in failed prosecutions because of missing and mishandled evidence."

Feuerstein also took his complaints to both the FBI and the police officer's union representative, Officer Dave Cardillo, the lawsuit states. Cardillo "conspired with the other individual defendants to deny him the opportunity to grieve or a fair hearing." Cardillo is on active military service and was unavailable for comment.

Feuerstein alleges that he has been retaliated against, harassed and demoted as a result of his efforts to report the mishandled drugs. At one time, Tussing and Archer "detained" him and "verbally accused and attacked him," according to the lawsuit. "Defendants have provided or permitted treatment based on cronyism and retaliation, rather than ability, training, experience and seniority," the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit has been assigned to Judge Ingrid Gustafson.

Retrieved April 1, 2006 from http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2006/03/29/news/local/16-complaint_x.prt

Posted by Dr. Kardasz at 02:09 PM |


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Fairfax, Virginia - Child Pornography Suspected Arrested

The Connection Newspapers
March 31, 2006, By Bonnie Hobbs

Farifax, Virginia

Steve Franklin Garrison, 53, of Chantilly, was arrested Oct. 6, 2005 by the Northern Virginia-Washington, D.C., Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force. A husband and father of three, he had been employed as a building inspector by Fairfax County, but resigned from his job four days after his arrest. According to a police warrant to search his home, he's accused of possessing child pornography in which some of the children were allegedly as young as 6 or 7 months old. The Task Force executed that warrant, Oct. 6, 2005, and seized 26 CDs and a Hewlett/Packard computer. Garrison is scheduled to enter a plea, May 9, in Circuit Court.
Retrieved April 1, 2006 from http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/article.asp?article=63837&paper=62&cat=104

Posted by Dr. Kardasz at 01:54 PM |


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