Officers Train To Patrol The Internet

 

Officers from across the state are honing their skills to better patrol your virtual life. 

 

The internet has become one of law enforcement’s biggest tools.

 

But like any other tool, it takes training to use it well.

 

You can do just about anything on the internet. Connect with friends and you can buy pretty much anything.

 

But you can also have your identity stolen or fall prey to a predator.

And that’s where these guys come in. 

 

“There’s an inherent danger in anything that goes on on the internet if you’re not safe. Once you put information out there it’s almost impossible to retrieve that information,” said Lt. Bill Hough.

 

He’s from the Tallapoosa County Sheriff’s Department has a lot of experience in internet crime.

 

He says social media is a valuable tool to interact with the public but it’s important to teach people to be careful.

 

“We teach not only law enforcement, but we teach the children about the dangers. You can no longer tell a child, “I said so.” You have to be able to show the child the dangers out there. So we provide these programs to the children in the schools, to civic groups,” said Lt. Hough.

 

Many of the officers admit to being surprised by just how much the internet is growing.

 

“We see it daily because we’re actually at a college campus. So that’s pretty much the way it works. You even got classes online. Online is here and it’s growing and as a police department we have to grow with it,” said O.J. Johnson with Alabama State University’s K-9 unit.

 

The training is offered through Auburn Montgomery’s continuing education program. It’s funded by grants through ADECA.

 

Director Linda Wright says they offer about 20 classes, all free of charge for officers in any agency.

 

“As you know the dwindling budgets in law enforcement agencies, they just don’t have the money to pay for a lot of the training so we hire quality instructors,” said Wright. 

 

This class was just one in a larger series about patrolling the internet. The next one will focus on children and how to protect them from predators. 

 

If your agency would like to participate in some of these classes, you can find their website here.