Hello Everone,
Evelyn here,
Earlier this month, Florida’s Attorney General Bill McCollum office was granted full funding to expand its present six-man Cyber Crime unit to a full statewide unit.
Below are more details form the General’s newsletter – News Briefs.
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The Attorney General's News Briefs
May 11, 2007
Volume 5, Issue 19:
Message from Attorney General Bill McCollum
Today, we launched an exciting new campaign addressing the importance of cybersafety, an issue widely recognized for its importance and its relevance to children, teenagers and adults throughout our state. Several new resources are now available, including Operation SafeSurf, a series of cybersafety-oriented websites located at http://www.safeflorida.net The SafeSurf websites will provide valuable information to adults, teens and kids about staying safe while surfing the internet.
We have made excellent progress in the legal fight against cybercrimes that victimize children, including child pornography, internet solicitation and grooming which occurs when internet predators misrepresent their age to break down their victims’ inhibitions.
Within the past three weeks, our state legislators demonstrated their commitment to protecting our children by passing the CyberCrimes Against Children Act of 2007. We also received funding to expand the Florida Attorney General’s CyberCrime unit across the state. We will begin establishing the new units over the next yearwith 50 additional cybercrime staff dedicated to investigating, arresting and prosecuting internet predators and child pornographers .
While it certainly is important to have stronger laws against child pornography and other cybercrimes, it is just as important for internet users of all ages to be aware of the dangers often encountered online and to employ basic safety tips for surfing the internet.
Today, I had the honor of joining spokespersons supporting the initiative including Tampa Bay Buccaneers player Matt Bryant and Alicia Kozakiewicz, a teenage survivor of internet solicitation and abduction, representatives from the Florida Association of District School Superintendents, and representatives from state and local law enforcement, legal, and business communities.
We will also be developing a Public Service Announcement campaign with our spokespersons, including Matt Bryant and professional surfer Kelly Slater, who has also endorsed our initiative. In addition, our office will be preparing CyberSafety programs to be conducted at public and private schools across the state next fall.
I encourage Floridians of all ages to visit http://www.safeflorida.net and make use of the valuable information located there. The combination of tougher laws, education and enhanced law enforcement will send a powerful message that Florida is no place for predators.
Thank you.
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Evelyn Out.
