There is no one tougher than a person behind a computer screen, said David Brubaker, a detective with the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office High-Tech Crime Unit. The police officer, who is one of only two certified forensic computer examiners in the county, spent the afternoon on Long Beach Island on Tuesday, March 11, discussing the do’s and don’ts of online activity with students and parents of the Beach Haven and Ethel A. Jacobsen elementary schools’ fifth-and sixth-grade classes. Nearly 90 students and a handful of parents attended the Internet safety seminar, held inside the gymnasium at the Beach Haven School.
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| Photo by Jack Reynolds Ocean County Detective David Brubaker discusses cyber bullying with kids and parents at the Beach Haven School. |
She said parents have asked her how to handle the issue of online bullying.
Cyber bullying is an exploding phenomenon throughout the world and an ongoing problem in Ocean County, said Brubaker. Anyone can be involved or affected by it, including both children and adults.
Cyber bullying includes repeated harassment as well as terroristic threats that involve the fear of bodily harm or death. Many people commit these crimes without realizing it or because they think it’s funny. However, it is a crime if a person perceives the bullying as harmful, said Brubaker.
Having access to the Internet via a smartphone is making cyber bullying more common, especially since most people have their own private phone. Cyber bullying is often conducted through text message, said Brubaker. Cell phones are at the center of many of the High-Tech Crime Unit’s investigations, though they also include laptops, iPads, tablets and other portable devices.
The primary mission of the High-Tech Crime Unit is to provide the county’s law enforcement agencies with specially trained detectives to conduct and/or assist with investigating technology-related crimes. The unit provides assistance in seizing digital evidence, such as computer equipment and cellular phones, and conducting impartial and objective analysis of digital evidence.
To help deter cyber bullying, unit members conduct many Internet safety lectures throughout the year for school-age children, educators and administrators, and professional and community groups.
Tuesday’s forum was held in conjunction with the Beach Haven Police Department. Patrolman Joseph Boehler originally reached out to the crime unit to help coordinate the event for the local students.
Although most people feel secure in their online activity, the Internet is a business that is easily trackable. It is not a “magical cloud” you can hide behind, said Brubaker. It takes about two or three weeks for investigators to track a person’s online usage, he added.
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| Photo by Jack Reynolds Beach Haven Patrolman Joseph Boehler oversees the discussion in the auditorium. |
He encouraged the young audience not to play pranks on others and to avoid “revenge posting” or saying something online that they will later regret.
“If it gets reported as a crime, we’re obligated to respond, and we will come knocking on your door,” he said.
Although juveniles will most likely not be taken to jail, the police will talk to their parents. Most people, especially kids, do not want others invading their online privacy, said Brubaker.
“It’s going to be embarrassing,” he emphasized. “The police are going to be there. We’re going to go through your house. We’re going to take your cell phone, take your computers, your laptops.”
Group texts and social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, are great outlets for connecting with others. However, the freedom is also riddled with opportunities for cyber bullying and other potential crimes that can create unwanted long-term effects.
“If you bully somebody online to the point where they don’t want to come to school, they can’t physically function in society, or they hurt themselves, you will make national news. It doesn’t matter how old you are. It doesn’t matter if it’s a nice, quiet community on the Island in Ocean County,” said Brubaker. “Nobody wants to look foolish in front of their friends. I know that’s your number one fear,” he told the young crowd.
Brubaker later acknowledged the fact that kids are going to be kids and that bullying is a part of growing up. The very face of bullying has changed as technology has made it easier for people to hide behind a cell phone. Most kids do not yet have the maturity to understand the consequences of their actions, he said.
Everybody is going to be picked on at some point, and chances are everyone is going to be in a group that is picking on somebody else, said Brubaker. He hopes the educational seminars will help remind people what it is like to be on the receiving end of cyber bullying.
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