December 17, 2006
With the rise in popularity of online games, Internet predators are increasingly turning to the world of multiplayer in order to locate potential young victims.In at least one jurisdiction, police have found a new tool to help catch such online pedophiles.
Salt Lake City's KUTV-2 reports that officers from the local P.D.'s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force have recruited a 15-year-old gamer named Zach to help them to navigate the world of online gaming.
Officer Ken Wallentine from the task force explained:
We are adults and we are not great gamers so we didn't know what we are doing so we brought in an expert.
As the resident expert gamer, Zach performs all sorts of tasks, from leveling up characters so that officers can pose as regular gamers, to teaching officers net lingo such as LOL, ROFL, and the meaning of "noob".
Zach himself doesn't make contact with sexual predators, but he is an important aid to officers as they attempt to pose as minors during online stings. At a recent awards banquet, Attorney General Mark Shurtleff presented Zach with a plaque honoring his work with the Salt Lake City police.
For Zach, the reward is in a good day's work, helping to catch online bad guys:
I think they are, like, dirt bags... I don't care for them at all should all just be behind bars.
By the way, if the "1337" in the headline confuses you, click here for an explanation.
- Reporting from Canada, GP Correspondent Colin "Jabrwock" McInnes
Comments
Remember that news segment a while back? Now this, I wondering if some higher-up didn't just hear someone use the term l33t and pick up a catch phrase. It kind of smacks of some old man in a corner office trying to relate or 'stay current' as my boss is so fond of saying.
I only wonder this as I am have been playing online games for a while, a long while, and back in the day the game of choice was anything with a missile launcher, which means that I learned l33t as a meas of speaking without removing my hands from the safety of the wasd zone for very long. And like most gamers of that time I can safely say that I speak the uber 1337. But anymore when you go into a game and bust out the m@d l33t s|
This article unaided could do this job.
I mean, we were all taught not to talk to strangers, right? Well this is the same exact thing!
BUt seriously, that's an awesome job.
The problem is, though, a lot of, say, 15 year olds, think they -are- ready to take care of themselves...
and I still have half my head stuck up where the sun dont shine ;_;
My little cousin hasn't put out any info or anything, but imo she posts pictures too racy for someone her age.
Am I the only one who DIDN"T want the whole world to know about me?
But still I think it's funny that tax dollars are being used to pay cops to play MMO games. Why not a volunteer orgainzation to help combat online sexual predators? I'm sure there are plenty of good people out there willing to help out.
Because it has to be a police officer doing the sting, to ensure all the rules are followed so it's not entrapment. Those highly publicized stings on nightly news don't usually hold up in court...
Not necessarily. It just means they think he knows more about playing MMO's like a 15-year-old than, say, a 40 year-old MMO player...
Remember, these officers are trying to pretend their teens to catch predators. What better expert on being a teen, than a teen?
I can definitly see these cops as a benefit though.
Like my stupid little cousin with her Myspace...
I meant meet people online in real life or at least till you are old enough to take care of yourself.
But I do think a GP regular met his current wife online.
Also, my little cousin posted personal stuff on Myspace, she didn't meet anybody in real life.
Sure, finding a qualified police officer with a proficiency in online gaming might not that be easy, but payment aside, the job could also be done be an adult
I think you are most probably right....