CNN - Surfin' the Net to track down criminals

Surfin' the Net to track down criminals

April 23, 1996
Web posted at: 11:45 p.m. EST

CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) -- When it comes to training police officers, teaching them to navigate the Internet may soon become as important as educating them on how to make an arrest.
The FBI says it's now recruiting the computer literate. In an increasingly wired world, the agency realizes that knowing how to recover clues from computers can be crucial for local police in solving everyday crime.
FBI special agent in charge Larry Collins says computers are no longer just used to commit sophisticated, white-collar crimes; old-fashioned offenses are flourishing on the Internet as well.
"I would like to say it's a crime of the future, but it's not. It's a crime of the present that's only going to grow in the future," Collins said.
A Florida man, Richard Romero, is charged with kidnapping a 13-year-old suburban Chicago boy he allegedly met in an on-line chat room.
"The investigation down there led us to believe Mr. Romero was very active on the Internet," said the FBI's Edwin Worthington.
A key clue in the kidnapping investigation turned out to be the teen-ager's computer. "Had it not been discovered, the child would probably have disappeared and probably without a trace," said Chief Ron Pavlock of Mt. Prospect, Illinois.
A computer-savvy local police officer searched the boy's files and found his electronic correspondence with Romero. They were found in Kentucky and the boy was returned home safely.
"The computer leaves a trail of what occurred, of what has gone through that particular machine," Pavlock said.
Phil Brankin, who trains the Illinois police in using new technology, says searching a crime scene should include searching the computer for evidence. "If officers are not aware that that is a possibility, they can completely overlook and miss leads in a case," he said.
From Correspondent Jeff Flock

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Surfin' the Net to track down criminals

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