LAW ENFORCEMENT
Internet bolsters crime-fighting
The Internet has become a tool for police investigating different crimes, as people share information -- incriminating themselves -- online.
The police officers surfing the Internet these days aren't just investigating porn or setting up dates with suspected child molesters.
They are working to bust killers, drug dealers, graffiti artists, identity thieves and a host of other criminals.
''Today we use the Internet for working all types of crimes,'' said Mike Phillips, special agent supervisor for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's Computer Crimes Division. ``We have to go where the criminals are, and they're on the Internet.''
Cyberspace is proving to be a trove of evidence of crimes committed and tips that help officers find perpetrators and even prevent crimes before they happen.
In recent months, police in Florida have used the Internet to:
• Thwart possible Columbine-type violence at a Hollywood middle school.
• Arrest a teen who bragged of smoking marijuana on MySpace.com.
• Arrest a man on burglary charges who posted incriminating photos of himself.
• Identify teenagers shown on video beating a homeless man.
School resource officers who frequently troll the social networking websites MySpace.com and Facebook.com say they help them learn about problems at schools. Students will chat about planned fights and brag about ''tagging'' the walls of schools with graffiti.
Many agencies have created special units to explore cyberspace because of the volume of people using the Internet -- many apparently not concerned about privacy.
MySpace.com claims to have more than 144 million members. Facebook.com has about 13 million registered users. Last year, Hollywood police say they foiled a violent plan to mimic Colorado's Columbine High School massacre from information they got online.
Acting on a complaint from the school's principal that some students feared for their lives, officers went to work surfing teen websites, said Hollywood Capt. Tony Rode.
Detectives soon identified two teens, one dubbed ''Wolf,'' who had posted a hit list of 70 students he called ''sheep,'' Rode said. The teens, who were expelled, had also posted graphic drawings of bloodied students.
'There were photos of the Columbine `trench coat mafia kids,' and other drawings we were able to download,'' Rode said. He wouldn't identify the school.
DRUGS AND GANGS
Officers routinely check the sites to learn the identities of gang members and drug dealers, Rode said.
Just two weeks ago, Punta Gorda police used a sting operation to arrest a 17-year-old boy who boasted on MySpace.com of smoking marijuana. Police contacted him on the site and arranged to buy marijuana. When he met with undercover officers on Dec. 13, he was arrested.
The cops are also looking for underage drinking parties.
''It's a major problem in South Florida,'' said Fort Lauderdale Detective Rich Love, a member of South Florida's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. ``We'll find a posting about a party at so-and-so's house or warehouse.''
On Dec. 19, Sarasota police arrested a 19-year-old man on burglary charges after they say he posted incriminating photos of himself on his MySpace profile, according to The Sarasota Herald Tribune.
FDLE created its computer crimes division in 1998 to handle Internet crime. It's responsible for investigating hacking, fraud and crimes against children. And it serves as the clearinghouse for the FBI's Internet fraud complaint center.
''Criminals who used to rob banks are finding it easier and less risky to commit identity theft online,'' Phillips said.
But the unit's expertise has become valuable in solving more gruesome crimes, too.
''A man who killed his wife shot out his computer, but our people were able to retrieve evidence from the hard drive, confirmation of an airline ticket to South America he had purchased that showed he intended to kill her and that it wasn't accidental,'' said Bob Breeden, FDLE assistant special agent in charge.
In January, Fort Lauderdale homicide detectives received tips from an online conversation that helped identify the teens caught on video beating a homeless man. Within minutes of the video's airing on TV, a group of teens named the suspects on a local website, www.SouthFloridaRacing.com.
SEXUAL PREDATORS
Still, law enforcement officers say, the biggest increase in online crime continues to be related to sexual predators and child pornographers.
With 27 million children signing on to the Internet every day, that's an unsupervised playground for ''these bogeymen,'' Love said.
Last month, Love said, his task force arrested a Fort Lauderdale man accused of trading large volumes of child pornography on the Web. And sites like MySpace have made it easier for child predators to find targets, he said.
''There are boys taking photos with their cell phones of young girls having sex and posting them to online,'' Love said. ``Girls are posting photos of themselves nude or almost nude. That's child pornography. They don't believe what they are doing is child pornography but it is. And they can be charged with a felony.''
Love gives presentations at middle and high schools around Broward County, cautioning students against sexual predators and against posting too much personal information online. He advises parents to monitor what their children are doing on the Internet and to visit their websites.
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