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COVER STORY cial for law enforcement to be involved. One tactic of cyberbullies is to post inflammatory remarks or give personal information on websites frequented by hate groups or child molesters in hopes of inciting a retaliatory response. "There have been suicides, murders and violent assault and batteries," says Aftab. Many state and federal laws are already on the books. There might also be non-law enforcement consequences as defined by school district policy. Under current laws, sexting can result in a disseminating child pornography charge. Sending even a simple nude photo to a person under 17 is a felony. Due to the pervasiveness of sexting, legislators in New York are trying to change it to a misdemeanor. "Legislators are realizing that it is going on so often we can't be charging all these kids with a felony," states Dann. Auburn SROs expanded their role of student protectors by including cyberbullying and sexting information into their program. Types of cyberbullying Cyberbullying comes from a variety of digital and interactive technologies. According to the StopCyberbullying toolkit, there are four different methods: ■ Direct Attack-Messages are sent to the target directly. ■ In-Direct Attacks/Campaigns—Posted and public attacks designed to get the word out and humiliate the target. ■ Cyberbullying-By-Proxy—Using others to cyberbully the victim, either with or without the accomplice's knowledge. This type of attack often gets adults involved in the harassment and involves either the cyberbully posing as the victim and setting them up for trouble with friends, parents, hate groups or ISPs, or reporting the victim to these groups for something they didn't do. ■ Invasion of Privacy—Spying on the victim or sharing their secrets. The cyberbully goes through the victim's email or cell phone and finds pictures and private e-mails/texts, then shares these with others. They can also leave a webcam running which sends live feed to the Internet without the victim's knowledge or consent. Auburn Police Department In 2000, after the tragedy at Columbine, the Auburn Police Department applied for a grant to begin an SRO program. Interacting with and educating students was part of the plan. When technology took over and social media began to be an issue, they knew they needed to add a new component to their presentations. "At the high school, we started going into the 9th grade classes to talk about the SRO program, and we realized we needed to talk about social media sites," says Slayton. "At first it was MySpace, then Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. And now SlapChat. We have to stay up on the changes in the sites these kids use to bully." Much of the curriculum is designed based on research the officers have done. They've also attended numerous trainings and utilize websites such as Aftab's StopCyberbullying.org. Auburn officers have also created fictional social media accounts. "Every student has friended our fictitious person," Dann explains. "It allows us to keep up on what is going on." Slayton explains the students don't 28 Law Enforcement Technology know which is the fictional account because they friend as a social status. "Nobody wants to have ten friends when others have 1,000," he says, "They friend us without even verifying who we are." Training and resources Numerous training opportunities and resources exist to help officer understand and investigate cyberbullying and sexting. The Cyber Law Enforcement Organization (CLEO) is a network of law enforcement officers who specialize in cybercrime investigation, training other law enforcement officers and who assist cybercrime victims online. This group of "Wired Cops" is part of a team affiliated with WiredSafety, a group founded by Aftab. Training is available both to those who are interested in volunteering with CLEO and those who are just looking for some additional information about cybercrime. Aftab also offers a downloadable Stop Cyberbullying toolkit with additional information and resources. Within the last month, September 2013 www.officer.com a Montgomery County (Pa.) task force completed a manual designed to offer best practices in prevention, response and accountability for cyberbullying and bullying. In addition, Officer Brian Kozera, a member of the task force and an SRO with Norristown (Pa.) Police Department, compiled an additional manual specifically for law enforcement. 4 Essential tips for dealing with cyberbullies: ■ Take it offline Aftab recommends officers look at the situation as if it occurred in real life. "If someone had a picture of a minor, that would qualify as child pornography," she says. "What laws would apply? If someone was following someone down the street saying that they are fat, what would you do? When technology becomes involved, people get confused." ■ Break it into elements "With cyberbullying...everything has to be broken into elements," says Aftab. "Is there hacking, identity theft, or threats? The laws already cover that.