Local users of MySpace.com can now have the Logansport Police Department as a “friend” on the popular networking Web site.

The police department recently created a profile on MySpace and went live with it earlier this week. Law enforcement officials are hoping parents will encourage their children to add the LPD profile onto their list of friends. The purpose is to thwart would-be predators.

“The hope is to keep the online predators away by having a law enforcement icon on their profile,” said Carrie Harvey, the Logansport dispatcher who designed the page. “Hopefully the online predators would steer clear from even trying to mess with or approach them.”

MySpace is a popular social networking site, especially among teenagers, who can post photos, videos and blog entries. According to a Pew Internet & American Life Project study, 64 percent of all teens used MySpace or similar Web sites.

MySpace purports to have 300 million users. Among them are folks with bad intentions, often called online predators. Many of these “predators” pose as teens and have been caught throughout the country trying to met young boys and girls in person.

By inviting the Logansport Police Department to be a friend, parents can add an extra protection measure as their children socialize online. The protection is like an officer in a squad car patrolling a neighborhood. An icon, the department’s badge, would be displayed in the friend’s list.

“It’s something to show our presence there,” said Assistant Police Chief A. J. Rozzi. “It let’s people know we’re there.”

Parents and teens can add LPD as a friend by making the request through MySpace.com

The LPD site can be found by searching for the display name “Logansport Police Department”. Each request is subject to approval, but most are eligible.

“We want as many people on there as possible,” Harvey said.

As of Friday, LPD had four friends, none of which were teenagers. They are hoping that when word gets out, that number will increase.

Logansport Police Department is at least the fifth police agency in Indiana to join the MySpace network. When Greenwood Police Department began, they had five friends, according to a recent report in the Indianapolis Star. After publicizing the site and getting the word around, they were up to 288.

The police-on-MySpace trend began last year when Kids Come First, a national organization dedicated to making the public aware of methods used by online predators trying to lure children, launched Project Law Enforcement Friends, “an effort to add an extra layer of protection for children that have MySpace accounts.”

According to their Web site, the Kids Come First program has more than 300 law enforcement agencies participating.

LPDs site is also a source of information through blogs, videos, photos and safety tips.

“Anything to educate the community,” Harvey said.

Videos show the dangers of drinking and driving, as well as drug use. Police seeking public assistance can publish information on unsolved crimes. The Crime Stoppers logo and contact information is available on the site, which is a work in progress

Harvey said she still has content to add, such as Internet safety tips.

To address the threat of online predators within the community, Logansport police assigned Lt. Robb Sweet. He has attended multiple training sessions and worked with other police departments actively addressing online threats. According to Rozzi, he works that beat on a daily basis.

Kevin Lilly can be reached at (574) 732-5117, or via e-mail at kevin.lilly@pharostribune.com



Where to go

• To view the police department’s MySpace page, go to MySpace.com and click on the search link near the top of the page. Then enter “Logansport Police Department” in the display name search engine. It should be the only search result. Click and view.



Socialize safely online

How to protect children from potential predators

• Keep the computer in an open area, like the kitchen or family room.

• Use the Internet with your kids. Be open to learning about the technology so you can keep up with them.

• Talk to your kids about why it’s important to keep information like their name, Social Security number, address, phone number and family financial information — like bank or credit card account numbers — to themselves.

• Your children should be cautious about sharing other information too, like the name of their school, sports teams, clubs, where they work or hang out, or any other information that could be used to identify them or locate them off-line.

• Make sure your kids’ screen names don’t say too much about them. Explain why it’s inappropriate — even dangerous — to use their full name, age, or hometown.

• Use privacy settings to restrict who can access and post on your child’s Web site.

• Warn your kids about the dangers of flirting with strangers online. Because some people lie online about who they really are, no one ever really knows who they’re dealing with.

• Tell your children to trust their gut if they have suspicions. If they feel threatened by someone or uncomfortable because of something online, they need to tell you and then report it to the police and the social networking site. You could end up preventing someone else from becoming a victim.

Source: www.ikeepsafe.org