Investigating in the Digital Age: A Law Enforcement Guide

Prosecutor John L. Molinelli of Bergen County, New Jersey is to be commended for his leadership in developing a computer crimes unit and for assigning dedicated professionals such as Investigators John DeVoe and Jeffrey Angermeyer to educate the public on issues of critical concern to contemporary society.

On March 25, 2008, the North Jersey Regional Crime Prevention Officers Association held its monthly meeting at the state of the art auditorium of the Bergen County Jail in Hackensack, New Jersey. DeVoe and Angermeyer delivered two presentations—Investigating in the Digital Age: A Law Enforcement Guide and Reading Email Headers: Basic Internet Investigations—to law enforcement and school officials.

Examples of computer facilitated crime covered:

• Child Pornography
  Possession, Distribution
• Child Endangerment,
  Harassment, Terroristic Threats, Hate Crimes
• Traveler Cases
  Luring Youth Online
• Fraud
  Theft, Scams

The presentations also covered Internet lingo and stressed the importance of never including information with screen names and profiles such as a full name, addresses, phone/cell numbers, age, date of birth or school names. The pros and cons of popular social networking sites including Myspace, Facebook and Friendster were also addressed.

Cyber-bullying was discussed as not only detrimental to the self-esteem of a youth, but also an issue that can lead to alienation from the school community, depression and even suicide.

Focusing on protecting youth against Internet crime, several points were highlighted:

• Teaching youth to be wary of strangers online.
• Knowing where youth are going online
• Monitoring of students online

The dangers of online sexual predators were also covered. The ultimate goal of a sexual predator is to meet a child in person by using the following tactics:

• Building rapport through similar interests
• Developing trust
• Maintaining secrecy
• Bombarding the youth with kindness in an effort of weakening their defenses
• Threatening the youth

The community must continue to work together to help our children use the internet wisely and protect them from its' potential dangers.

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Bergen County Prosecutor's Office	Click here to visit site
National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C)	Click here to visit site
FDU Cyber Crime Lab Blog	Click here to visit site

Edison School Students: Future of Union City and the Nation

On Wednesday, March 19, 2008, I had the pleasure of addressing over 500 students from Thomas A. Edison School in Union City, New Jersey. The event was made possible through the leadership of Principal Alexandria Conti and Assistant Principal Tim Crabbe. Students representing the fifth through eighth grade met in the gym for a presentation titled Social Networking Technology Concerns for Students: Online Communities, Cell Phones, Instant Messaging. After these presentations, I was invited to visit eighth grade classrooms to openly discuss why character is important and to encourage them to support, respect and appreciate themselves and one another.

Social networking technology includes:

• Instant Messaging, email, voice connection and web cams
  
• Online Community websites, such as MySpace and Facebook
  
• Media sharing websites, such as YouTube, Picasa and Flickr
  
• Cell Phones for voice, text, picture and video sharing

Some of the highlights of the event included:

• Focusing on what it means to be a student which includes personal responsibility, reaching one’s full potential and achieving greatness by making sacrifices. Students discussed the importance of encouraging one another and avoiding negativity and criticism.
  
• Honestly confronting problems at home and school.
  
• The importance of working together and being involved with the community including family and friends, church, community organizations and school.
  
• Developing personal leadership especially through the quality of character.
  
• The use of a Secret Power: "You have the power to change the world by helping each other do what is right."

We then explored the dangers of inappropriate content, including:

• Misinformation
  
• Pictures / Videos
  
• Language / Sexting
  
• Gangs / Criminal Activity
  
• Bullies / Cyberbullying
  
• Predators

All students were encouraged to get involved, making "Character: The Heart of the Matter," as inspired by Rachel Scott's Challenge:

• ELIMINATE PREJUDICE
  by looking for the Best in Others
  
• DARE TO DREAM
  Set Goals—Keep a Journal
  
• CHOOSE YOUR INFLUENCES
  Input Determines Output
  
• KIND WORDS
  Small Acts of Kindness = Huge Impact
  
• START A CHAIN REACTION
  With Family & Friends

As with all of my presentations, we concluded with a tribute honoring American Military Sacrifices.

Edison School is to be highly commended for this initiative that encourages students to reach their full potential, wisely using the tools of the computer age, helping one another, developing personal character and enhancing a sense of patriotism.

Rachel Joy Scott (3:32)

<a HREF="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR8Eae9vQ4g">Play the clip on YouTube</A>

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Rachel's Challenge	Click here to visit site
Character Education Partnership	Click here to visit site
Sacred Honor: Police Officer, Soldier, Patriot	Click here to visit site

Head On Collision: Crisis of Character and Culture of Violence

New York Governor Eliot Spitzer announced his resignation today, due to allegations of his involvement with a high-priced prostitution ring. This is indicative of the continued crisis of character taking place at the highest levels of government, corporations, professional sports and even faith-based organizations.

Personally, I envision a metaphor where this crisis of character is a high speed train about to collide head on with another high speed train. Tragically, the other high speed train headed toward this crisis of character is the culture of violence.

Alongside the headlines of the New York Governor's demise and many other scandals are those covering the deaths of students from the University of Nevada, the University of North Carolina, Auburn University, and Los Angeles High School, student victims of violent deaths from coast to coast.

Brianna Denison, a 19-year old college student from the University of Nevada, was murdered and found in a field in Reno on February 15, 2008. She had been abducted on Sunday, January 20, 2008 by someone the community fears to be a serial rapist who has now turned to murder.

Jamiel Andre Shaw, 17 years-old, was a remarkable football star and considered an all around great kid at Los Angeles High School. He was shot multiple times in a random gang attack on Sunday, March 2, 2008. His mother, serving our nation in Iraq, had to fly home to bury her son.

Lauren A. Burk, 18 years-old, an Auburn University freshman, died on Tuesday, March 4, 2008 after being shot. Her body was found along an Alabama road before the discovery of her burning car in a campus lot.

Eve Marie Carson, 22 years-old, of Athens, Georgia was found shot to death on Wednesday, March 5, 2008 on a street about one mile from her campus at the University of North Carolina. She was an outstanding student complimented by her dedication to service of community as the student body president

Headlines continually highlight America’s crisis of character and culture of violence. The tragedy and pain they represent must inspire us to renew our commitment to the nation’s transformation through the instilling of character in its heart and vigilance in its communities.

Video Tributes

Brianna Denison (2:46) Jamiel Andre Shaw (4:01) Lauren Burk (4:17) Eve Carson (4:52)

<A HREF="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7-NCh3TbkY">Play the clip on YouTube</A>

Parental Involvement: Key to the Education of Youth

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"Do not train children to learning by force and harshness, but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each." — Plato

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Parents, as the primary educators of their children, are critical to the proper formation of our youth. In today's society where the family is challenged by so many distractions, making parental involvement a priority in whatever way possible has proven advantages.

A unity of effort among parent, child and teacher is essential for the comprehensive development of students into happy, healthy and productive citizens. The National Educational Association website emphasizes the findings of research into parental involvement in their children's education:

• When parents are involved in their children's education at home, they do better in school. And when parents are involved in school, children go farther in school—and the schools they go to are better.
• The family makes critical contributions to student achievement from preschool through high school. A home environment that encourages learning is more important to student achievement than income, education level or cultural background.
• Reading achievement is more dependent on learning activities in the home than is math or science. Reading aloud to children is the most important activity that parents can do to increase their child's chance of reading success. Talking to children about books and stories read to them also supports reading achievement.
• When children and parents talk regularly about school, children perform better academically.
• Three kinds of parental involvement at home are consistently associated with higher student achievement: actively organizing and monitoring a child's time, helping with homework and discussing school matters.
• The earlier that parent involvement begins in a child's educational process, the more powerful the effects.
• Positive results of parental involvement include improved student achievement, reduced absenteeism, improved behavior, and restored confidence among parents in their children's schooling.

SIMPLE HOMEWORK TIPS FROM EXPERT VILLAGE

Space (0:58) Time (1:01) Supervision (1:34) Assignments (1:28) Groups (1:15) Search Engines (1:02) Independence (2:03) Reference (1:20) Distractions (1:29) Test Prep (1:13)

<A HREF="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxb_ql-Dbhg">Play the clip on YouTube</A>

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National Education Association Help For Parents

Click here to visit site