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June 23, 2008

Member Update for June, 2008

Hello Everyone!
We've had a lot happen in the last 4-6 weeks.
  • Welcome to Colorado, our newest chapter. Jane from California forwarded us a news story about a man in Western Colorado who needed some help, and a few days later Jason started the process to create a chapter. Really nice people, and already getting a lot done. If you have relatives for friends in Colorado, let them know they have a resource for safety education and advocacy.
  • Safe Child Week was a great success. Regional Library systems, the Attorney General's Office, the Governor, the Legislature, the PTA, several pediatric clinics, Moms' clubs, PEACE of Mind... all told, we reached approximately 30,000 people with the message of preventative safety education, using the Take 25 program from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. And that's not counting the people reached with media coverage! Tremendous thanks to everyone who participated, and -if you missed the chance- there is more coming up with the Safe Child Effort:
  • Town Hall meetings are scheduled in 7 Legislative Districts so far, starting in September. These Town Halls are in further observance of Missing Children's Day, and will cover children's safety issues and crime prevention.  Local legislators and elected officials, local law enforcement, and experts in crime prevention will be attending as speakers and for Q&A. If you would like to participate in this effort, or would like more information, please contact us.
  • Our agenda for 2008-09 is on the website. Our focus this year is on the Safe Child project, Increased Penalties in School Zone legislation, Statute of Limitations on Felony crimes committed against kids, and Predatory Exposure.
  • Paula is going on hiatus for the rest of the year.  We wouldn't be here without her dedication and hard work: she spent hundreds of hours getting this non-profit up off the ground, offering support, driving to Olympia to testify, etc., and all the while being a great parent and finding success in her demanding career. This leaves an opening in our organization for a Director. It's an unpaid position, and time commitments range from 10-30 hours per week. Higher-level project management skills are necessary, along with some experience in, or knowledge of, law enforcement, social work, legislation, or fund raising. If you're interested, send in your resume and cover letter.

Enjoy your summer, and keep safe! Here are Summer Safety Rules from NCMEC - a very good read. Print the .pdf and talk to your kids about it.

Search the Web

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April 20, 2008

statutes of limitation for felony CSA

What do you think about the statutes of limitation placed on felony sex crimes committed against children? Do you think they should go away? Do you think they should be extended? What do you think about statutes of limitation on ANY felony?

This year, we're working on this - and it will be a lot of work. Things to consider:

  • quality of the victim's memory regarding traumatic events; accuracy of victims' memories after long periods of time.
  • why are there statutes of limitation on any felonies? What's the legal basis for statutes of limitation?
  • can we do this incrementally? extend the limitation by, say, five years, and separately, work on removing the statutes of limitation on all Class A felonies.
  • is there room for comprimise? between legislators, current law, and victims' advocates/activists there are some very varying ideas on what justice looks like.

Email us, or post here, and tell us what you think. We read them all, and we appreciate the responses.

 

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March 14, 2008

CETS - Child Exploitation Tracking System

Microsoft has created a software product called the Child Exploitation Tracking System, CETS, which is currently being used in 9 countries to disseminate information and evidence, and track online predators.

Per this article at the CRN website, CETS use in England has been credited with

"helping to save 138 children from abuse, make 240 arrests and dismantle three international paedophile rings."

Microsoft Senior Vice President Brad Smith says:

“While the internet has contributed many benefits to our lives, one unfortunate downside is that it allows child predators to find one another and form virtual communities around the world through which they exploit and perpetrate heinous crimes against children,” said Smith. "

Sadly, those are very true words.

More information can be found here: http://www.microsoft.com/industry/publicsector/government/programs/CETs.mspx

From the Microsoft site:

"The Child Exploitation Tracking System (CETS) is a unique software tool developed by Canadian police, international law enforcement officials, and Microsoft to help battle child exploitation online. Pronounced "kets," this tool helps law enforcement officials collaborate and share information with other police services based on legal agreements in place. When law enforcement officials turned to Microsoft to help solve a significant challenge they faced, CETS was created to increase the effectiveness of investigators and teams by providing them with software to store, search, share, and analyze large volumes of evidence and match cases across police agencies."

added later: NYC becomes the first to use CETS in the US.

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March 03, 2008

Great Blogs to visit for more information

Blogs will be added to this post as we get time.

there are a lot, so here's the best one: www.fraudarena.wordpress.com. fantastic collection of information and commentary, check out her blog links, as well.

MASP of California now has a blog, brand new. You can visit and join in discussions at www.maspofcalifornia.blogspot.com.

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February 27, 2008

Legislative update and new features!

Legislative Update-
 
We lost SB 6386 and HB 2715 - both bills would have made great changes in laws to protect our kids. We'll work on them over the next year, and get them through the next session.
 
Three bills are still in the running, and they're in the home stretch. SB 6358, HB 3103, and HB 2728. All are very simple pieces of legislation that would go a long way toward correcting gaps that let a lot of predators through to our kids. You can read about them on our Support Legislation page, and you can support them there, too.
 
HB 2728 is a big deal for us, and it needs your support.
 
Please go to our Support Legislation page and send the pre-addressed email there, or simply contact the Senate Committee for Human Services and Corrections and let them know you support HB 2728. I call them all the time, the woman that usually answers the phone is very nice.
 
That phone number is 360-786-7316. If they don't answer the phone, you can just leave a message with your name, the city you live in, and your support HB 2728.
 
Activism doesn't get any easier!
 
Also, we have a newly-built website, and a MUCH better blog. The blog is a great thing because, should you choose to, you can subscribe to the RSS feed and read our updates along with your daily RSS news, rather than get it in your inbox. If you'd like to do that, let me know, and we'll unsubscribe you from this newsletter.
 
In May we're observing National Missing Children's Day - with a week of activities. Mom's Clubs, PTSAs, preschools, public schools, and law enforcement - everyone is joining in, and it's a fantastic thing. Why is it so fantastic?
 
58,000 non-family abductions in the US every year. Some abductions last for a very short period and the child isn't transported - however, in the vast majority of even the most brief abductions, the child is still sexually or physically victimized.

While it's an important and necessary act to record certain information about kids in case they get kidnapped - we need to prevent the assault, the kidnapping, the sexual violence toward children.
 
So, a week of access to prevention education, for on the street and on the internet. If you want to help, let us know. More details will follow when we have all of the participating organizations levels of commitment, which you can read more about at our website on the page National Missing Children's Week.
 
Please go check out the website, shop at our store, and comment on our blog!

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In support of HB 3103

I am representing Washington Communities Against Predators.
This past December, two people came to me, separately, asking me if I knew that there was something going on in Washington Schools, and likely through-out the country, called 'passing the trash.'
This phrase is used to describe what happens when a school official needs to remove a 'problem employee' from one environment for troublesome but not necessarily criminal issues, and doesn't want to risk negative publicity for the school by going forward with formal allegations of misconduct.
They did not know how common it was, but they both had very strong issues with the results, in that parents and the new school's employees had no means of knowing that 'problem teacher' was a threat.
At the time, I had the resources to note down their concerns and add it to my list of things to research for future work. Today, a third person sent me a link to a news article [see link below]  from King 5, regarding HB 3103.
I have taken the time to read the documents associated with HB 3103, and am very glad to have the opportunity to contribute on its behalf.
The fact is, children have to go to school. Yes, parents could home school, but that is a possibility for a very limited number of Washington citizens.
Parents are responsible for the safety of the children every-where in their lives, right up until the school's door. Inside the door, it is the school's responsibility to protect the children. We now know that there is this threat, and HB 3103 articulates an appropriate response to this threat.
I urge that this bill be passed through the Senate and signed into law.

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