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EMERGENCY RESPONSE & ONLINE PREDATORS |
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Written by Tim Gobble, Sheriff
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Thursday, 21 January 2010 |
When I took office in 2006, the average emergency response time ~ the time that a call is dispatched from the 911 Center until a deputy arrives at the scene ~ was almost 10 minutes. Within my first year, we were able to reduce that response time to a little over seven minutes. We did this by better utilizing existing resources, reducing top-heavy management and placing more patrol deputies on the road.
Now, I am glad to report we have reduced that average emergency response time again, to six minutes and 52 seconds. In emergency situations, every second counts and can even mean the difference between life and death. We are working hard to improve our emergency response even more, but as the population of Bradley County continues to grow, that will be increasingly more difficult without hiring more patrol deputies. However, that six minutes and 52 seconds emergency response is good news indeed.
Another crime fighting technique we put in place at the sheriff’s office has paid off as well, and that is our Internet Crimes Against Children unit (ICAC). The BCSO is dedicated to the safety of children and will use every resource at our disposal to prosecute on-line predators as they are located and identified in our area. Not too long ago, we partnered with the Knoxville Police Department in the newly developed ICAC program. I work with Knoxville Chief of Police Sterling Owen on the Tennessee Crime Prevention Coalition board and it is a pleasure to work with him on ICAC as well.
The ICAC program is sponsored through the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood initiative, which focuses on investigating and prosecuting crimes against children perpetrated though the Internet or other electronic media and/or communication devices. It is a cooperative effort of U.S. Attorneys, ICAC Task Forces, the FBI, Secret Service, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the U.S. Marshals Service, a number of state and local law enforcement officials in each U.S. Attorney’s district including our local DA, and various advocacy organizations such as the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
ICAC is a network of more than 2,000 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies engaged in proactive investigations, forensic investigations and criminal prosecutions. It grew out of an identified need to combat the spread of child pornography and increased activity of predators seeking unsupervised contact with potential underage victims.
I am glad to report that this past week, the investigative efforts of the BCSO’s ICAC Unit resulted in the arrest of two Knoxville men on charges involving the sexual exploitation of minors. One of the men was also charged with sending nude photographs to an underage child over the Internet and is also charged with soliciting an underage child for sexual purposes.
Like in most every other area of society, computer technology has proven to be a tremendous law enforcement tool. The BCSO has been on the cutting edge of new technology in forensics, investigations and cybercrime technology. Working with the ICAC Taskforce, we will use the power of the Internet against the very ones who would exploit it for illegal activities.
Citizens can call (423) 728-7336 to share information regarding the possession, distribution or receipt of child pornography and the online enticement of children for sexual purposes. Callers have the option of leaving tips anonymously if they wish.
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