Sheriff Brown Presents Award to Mail America

THE BEDFORD BULLETIN, Bedford, Va., Friday, 28 February, 2001

by John Barnhart

FOREST, Va. -- Bedford County Sheriff Mike Brown honored Dan Reber and his company, Mail America, Monday for helping Operation Blue Ridge Thunder fight pedophiles.  The Forest-based company printed and donated 10,000 "Safe Surfin'" coloring books for the educational arm of the program.  The books contain original art by Don Garlock Jr., an artist [writer, webmaster and original BRT Task Force Member] who lives in Forest.  Garlock donated his time.

Packets containing the coloring book, and other material on Internet safety will be distributed in Bedford County [Va.] schools.  They will also be made available to other law enforcement agencies that are using Blue Ridge Thunder's educational program.

Blue Ridge Thunder [is comprised] of two parts, law enforcement and education.  The law enforcement portion of Blue Ridge Thunder consists of two deputies who surf the Internet fishing for on-line pedophiles.  They pose as children or young teens and look for adults who try to use the web to lure kids into meeting with them for a sexual liaison.  They also look for people distributing child pornography.  Brown noted that it is illegal to produce, distribute or possess child pornography.  So far Blue Ridge Thunder has made 100 arrests or referrals to other law enforcement agencies.  In a referral, the Sheriff's Department catalogs the evidence they have and passes it on to the law enforcement agency where the suspect lives.

Brown said that they have a 100 percent conviction rate.

The education portion of Blue Ridge Thunder seeks to teach elementary school and middle school age youths about the sort of people who would like to link up with them on the Internet, and the danger these people pose.  The "Safe Surfin'" coloring book tries to point out that parents aren't being mean when they restrict and supervise their kid's web-based activities.

The Sheriff's Department was one of 10 law enforcement agencies across the country to get a federal grant providing seed money to start programs to protect children on the Internet.  This year, Blue Ridge Thunder began presenting annual Community Service Awards to police and citizens who do something noteworthy to help protect children on the Internet.  The first law enforcement award went to a [Va.] state trooper in Winchester.  Reber and Mail America got the first non-law enforcement award.

Reber said that his company wants to help as much as possible and is willing to print additional copies of the coloring book at cost, plus shipping and handling.

"I think Bedford County is very fortunate to have Sheriff Brown," Reber said.  "I'll support him in any endeavor."

Brown said the offer to print the books came when he described his plans to Reber.

"He graciously said 'What can I do?'" commented Brown.

Individuals interested in getting copies of the book can call the Sheriff's Department.  The books can also be ordered through the Blue Ridge Thunder website:  www.blueridgethunder.com.

Blue Ridge Thunder's "Safe Surfin'" [educational program] encourages kids to follow some guidelines:

Get permission from parents [each time] before going on-line.

Don't give out personal information, such as age, your address, phone number or the name of your school.

Tell you parents or teacher about any chats or pictures that make you feel uncomfortable.

Blue Ridge Thunder urges parents to supervise their children's time on the Internet.  They suggest that parents set up passwords that they must enter before their children go on-line.  They also suggest that parents set limits on their children's on-line time and put computers with Internet access in family areas, rather than in a child's bedroom.