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How Do Law Enforcement Agencies Protect Us From Sexual Predators? While it’s important to know how to protect your family from sexual predators it’s just as important to be informed as to what your local law enforcement agencies are doing to protect you as well. Local, state, and federal governments have established new task forces and have passed new laws in an effort to cut down on sexual predator offenses. There is no need to take the law into your own hands. While all states and communities are different, their main goals are the same. You should contact the police immediately if your child tells you that someone has been forcing any type of inappropriate contact. Law enforcement agencies have the legal ability and capability to monitor and track persons of interest. Anyone who makes any type of questionable contact with your child should be reported – the police can sort out the details while you are left free to spend time communicating with and supporting your child through what is bound to be a confusing time in his or her life. A large number of law enforcement agencies have developed special Internet Crimes Units. Officers in these units are specially trained to monitor Internet activity, including chat rooms, text messages, and email activity. Predators will often search for their victims on the internet and then travel to meet them so they are not recognized in their own neighborhoods. Because of this, law enforcement officers often participate in stings where they pose as young children and trap sexual predators who come out to meet young children after identifying their victims online. Meagan’s Law is a federal regulation mandating that all convicted sex offenders register with the township in which he or she will live once released from prison. Once local law enforcement agencies receive this information, they are able to discretely notify schools and individuals who will live in the general vicinity of the sex offender. An online database is kept so that residents can look up sex offenders by name; users can also search their township for a complete list of sex offenders living in the area. Our law enforcement agencies are doing as much as possible to protect our families from sex offenders and online predators. Just remember, your first line of defense is in the home. Be sure to talk to your children and make sure they understand the dangers involved when it comes to talking to strangers, regardless of whether or not they are on the Internet. If
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