June 5, 2007 Program

The Club’s guest speaker this morning was Ms. Sandra Putnam, from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Internet High Crime Unit.

Why is the GBI interested in the internet you ask?  Because crimes are committed with the aid of this electronic communications media.  On an average day, over 811,000,000 people use the internet around the world.  Of that number, 30.5 million are children.  And the kids know the ‘internet lingo or acronyms’ that many adults, especially parents don’t know.  They know their way around the chat rooms like ‘My Space’, yahoo, AOL, and other talk sites where children are ‘duped’ by internet predators who pose as children, but in reality are adults seeking underage sexual partners.

Then there are other adults using the internet to sell or obtain child pornography, sell ‘black market babies’ from around the world, or sell their children for sex, and many varieties in between.  Not a pretty picture!

The speaker said according to GBI statistics that in 2002, Georgia had 30 child pornography investigations.  In the year 2006, 435 cases of child pornography were investigated.

The GBI accepts referrals from many sources including all law enforcement agencies and the national center for missing and exploited children.  Approximately 30‘cybertips’are received by the GBI in a year.

The GBI internet crime unit relies on five core concepts:

  1. Investigations of crimes
  2. Digital forensic examinations for evidence:  Specially trained computer GBI agents extract possible digital evidence from computers, cell phone memories, P.D.A.’s,  and other electronic media such as internal or external hard drives.

The GBI is actively working with the State Attorney General to update and introduce new laws that protect children using the internet.  They try to stay ‘three steps ahead’ of the criminals.  It adheres to current laws, careful not to ‘entrap’ possible perpetrators’, so the GBI can bring these perpetrators to justice.

You can report information on possible crimes to this website: www.cybertip.org

To have the GBI make an internet safety presentation at your business, school, or agency, please go to the web site: WWW.GAICAC.US

Upcoming speaker

“Gentleman George” Scheer, our speaker chair, says next week’s guest speaker will talk about ‘teenage driving accidents’.

President Wortman's Thought for The Day

“Technological progress is like an axe in the hands of a pathological criminal.”
-- Albert Einstein [1879-1955]  

Announcements

  1. My House Project:
    Club President Antje Wortman said Saturday’s garden cleanup/day/decoration prep was great.  Many Club members and their guests turned up to lend a helping hand.  A good time was had by all and the children definitely loved seeing all the activity.  
  2. Location of Monthly Board Meetings changed:
    As of next month, the Club’s board meetings will take place at 7:30 a.m. at the “Ok Café”, 1284 West Paces Ferry Road, Atlanta, Ga. 30327. For more information and directions please see: www.okcafe.com
  3. Club Lake Hartwell Event:
    Club Treasurer Tim Kercheval and his wife Jan need to know by your e-mail response [by Friday] your preference for one or the other of these dates for this event:
    4. Please e-mail your preference to Tim at : TFK82150@bellsouth.net
  4. The Grits will not be published the next two weeks.


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