DeWitt Police - PRESS RELEASES

PRESS RELEASES

DEWITT POLICE FOUNDATION

$500.00SCHOLARSHIPPURPOSE: To aid a qualified graduate of Central Community High School (DeWitt), who is planning to continue his/her education.STIPEND:A scholarship of $500.00 will be remitted to the educational institution at time of registration.ELIGIBILITY:Students applying for this scholarship shall have a desire to pursue a post high school education in Criminal Justice or a similar degree program. This application is opened to ALL High School and College Students, however priority will be given to High School Seniors. DEADLINEMay 1, 2010.APPLICATIONS may be picked up at the DeWitt Police Department, High School Guidance Counselor’s Office or available online at www.dewittpolice.freeservers.comReturn applications to the High School Guidance Counselor’s office or mail to the DeWitt Police Foundation (606 9^th Street, DeWitt, Iowa 52742) by May 1, 2010.

ANNUAL DEPARTMENTAL AWARDS

The following departmental awards will be presented at am Awards Reception hosted by the Citizen’s Police Academy Alumni Association at the DeWitt Community Center at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, January 22, 2009: Officer of the Year – 2008 Officer Tamii Gordy has been selected by his peers for this award. Officer Gordy’s outstanding initiative has led to the solution of several major cases in 2008, including several business burglaries and a counterfeiting case. Additionally, Officer Gordy sets the standard for Community Policing within the department by proactively interacting with community members and building a rapport with those who can assist in providing information that leads to the solution of crimes. She displays a positive and enthusiastic attitude about her duties. Officer Gordy answered 1,167 calls for service and made 26 arrests in 2008. Officer Gordy is an asset to the DeWitt Police Department and her dedication to duty is commendable. Medal of Merit Award Officer Shia Cruciani has been selected to receive the Medal of Merit award. The Medal of Merit is awarded in recognition of a member of the Department who performs in an outstanding manner and brings credit to themselves and the Department by initiating an action or program and being responsible for the results. Officer Cruciani initiated the Law Enforcement Explorer Post for the DeWitt Police Department in order to build rapport with the youth of our community, give youth an insight into Criminal Justice as a career choice and develop future leaders in the community. Through Officer Cruciani’s efforts the DeWitt Explorer Post has grown to over 16 members ranging in age from 14 to 19 years. Additionally, Officer Cruciani has enthusiastically embraced her duties as part of the Internet Crimes Against Children’s Task Force. Her relentless work ethic in this area during 2008, led to over 900 children and community members being educated on Internet Safety, 132 hours of investigative time and the arrest of 3 predators who sought to victimize children in our community. Chief’s Award David Pillers will be recognized by the DeWitt Police Department for his assistance to the DeWitt Police Department by generously giving of his time and expertise to provide state mandated legal training to members of the DeWitt Police Department. This involved many sessions and was always during night hours when he could have been home with family instead. Additionally, David was instrumental in the formation of the DeWitt Police Foundation where he has served as president of the board since its inception. David Pillers’ contributions to the DeWitt Police Department have enhanced our delivery of service to the community.

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-CITIZEN OF THE MONTH AWARD- Do you know someone that deserves recognition because they have went above and beyond their normal duties in our community by volunteering? If so, Pizza Hut and the DeWitt Police Department want to know about it! We would like to commend them on their unselfish dedication, and show them that they are greatly appreciated by our community and the people that they have helped or assisted! Criteria needed to be selected to receive the award are persons that volunteer their time within the City of DeWitt.

If you know someone who deserves the “Citizen of the Month Award” please submit an e-mail message to dwpdsro@gmtel.net or leave a voicemail at 563-659-3145, extension 306. Written nomination forms are also available and can be dropped of at the DeWitt Police Department and the DeWitt Pizza Hut location. Please include your name and phone number, as well as the name and contact information for the person you are nominating to include their volunteer activities. Please be as specific and detailed as possible.

This award is given once each month, and is presented at the city council meeting in which the recipient will receive an award certificate, a $50 savings bond, and a certificate for a free Pizza Hut personal pan pizza.

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DeWitt Police Work to Protect Children Online

Christina was a typical 13-year old teenager who enjoyed trips to the mall and chatting online with her friends. Christina asked to be dropped off at a mall to meet friends for some shopping on a Spring day in 2002; however, she was nowhere to be found when her parents went to pick her up later. During the investigation into Christina’s disappearance, police looked at her computer and discovered that she had arranged to meet with a 25-year old man that she had met on the Internet. This Internet sexual predator later confessed to raping and strangling Christina before throwing her body in a creek, which he led police to.

We hear stories like this on a more frequent basis in the news and it illustrates some of the challenges that parents and law enforcement face when it comes to protecting our children. It was not so long ago that for a criminal to victimize someone in a community, they had to visit the community or live in the community in order to have some type of personal contact with the victim. This is not true any longer. A criminal can victimize you using the Internet from anywhere in the world. What’s more alarming is that a predator can victimize our children without ever stepping foot in our community by using a computer or cell phone. Physical contact is not necessary for a child to be victimized.

According to the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, 55 million kids use the Internet and 1 in 3 children ages 10 to 17 have had unwanted exposure to sexually explicit pictures. One in 5 teens have been solicited to engage in sexual activity online and 1 in 33 have received an aggressive sexual solicitation where the predator has attempted to meet with them, called them on the phone or sent them gifts following online grooming. Seventy percent of these solicitations occur on a home computer and 22% occur on someone else’s computer. Sixty-five percent of the solicitations occur in chat rooms and 24% occur through Instant Messaging programs like MSN, AOL, or Yahoo Messenger. Another alarming statistic is that only 25% of kids solicited online told their parents and less than 10% of those cases were reported to law enforcement.

The DeWitt Police Department is committed to protecting children online and doing everything we can to help prevent children in our community from becoming part of one of these statistics. We are active members in the Iowa Internet Crimes Against Children’s Task Force and have 2 members of the department specially trained in investigating these crimes. Our goal is to be proactive in this area by educating children and parents on Internet Safety and working proactive investigations that target online predators.

Red Flags for parents when it comes to your child’s online activity include:

- Your child changes or minimizes the screen when you walk into the room;

- Your child suddenly spends substantially more time online;

- Your child starts getting strange phone calls from people you do not know;

- Your child has new clothes, CD’s or other items from unknown sources;

- Your child gets overly upset if their Internet use is restricted;

- Your child is unusually withdrawn.

Internet Safety Tips for Parents:

- Keep the computer in a common room (not your child’s bedroom).

- Learn how to view Internet history files and learn Chat-room lingo.

- Consider adding filtering software to your computer to prevent access to inappropriate sites.

- Instruct your child to never give out personal information in an email, a chat room, or on a social network site like MySpace.

- Know the screen names and usernames your child uses for all Internet activity they engage in.

Law enforcement can not do it alone; we must partner with parents and all community members and ask you to report inappropriate online activities and solicitation to the DeWitt Police Department or to the Cybertip Hotline at 1-800-843-5678 or www.cybertiphotline.com. DeWitt Police staff are available to present programs on Internet Safety and protecting children online to all age groups, so please contact us if you would like presentation on this important topic.