Internet Safety Program Tonight at Dayton

The Springfield Police Department in conjunction with the Union County Prosecutor’s Office will be presenting a program on Internet safety.

This presentation will take place at the auditorium on Oct. 20 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. The guest speaker will be Sergeant Michael Hoose who is the Internet and social media specialist for the prosecutor’s office high tech crimes unit.

This program is to educate parents and children alike to facebook and other social media sites, chat rooms, texting, sexting and various cyber crimes that can target residents and especially their children. Questions from the audience on any Internet related matter will be both invited and appreciated.

Springfield Police Chief John Cook contacted the prosecutor’s office to offer this type of Internet safety awareness program to township residents after police detectives recently arrested a 28 year old man from Perth Amboy who was posing as a 17 year old boy and was preying upon young girls.

According to Chief Cook, ”parents may lock the doors and windows of their home, they may know who their children’s friends are and they may warn them to be wary of strangers but the Internet has now defeated all of these safeguards as predators have immediate on-line access to your children. This is why it is so vital that parents know what to look for when monitoring a child’s internet access”.