Small Agency, Big Stick

This Sheriff blends country boy "horse sense" and cutting-edge technology to run with the big dogs... 
strike that...  to LEAD the big dogs in the war on child exploitation.

The National Reporter -- Summer 1999 --  International Police Association

One of the world's front-line law enforcement initiatives combating Internet crime began as a response to a concerned mother who called authorities for help when her 14-year-old daughter was solicited over the Internet by a Florida man wanting her to appear in a pornographic movie.  Issuing orders for one of his computer-savvy deputies to investigate online, Bedford County, Va., Sheriff Mike Brown began doing some homework of his own on the exploitation of children over the Internet.  Available statistics -- on both Internet growth and related crime -- were dizzying.  Undaunted, this Sheriff began developing characteristically innovative ways to attack the alarming problems he was uncovering.  What he started early in 1998 on a shoestring has grown to become one of the key task forces effectively fighting the newest and ugliest global epidemicÝ-- child exploitation on the Internet.

  How is it that such a small agency could initiate and develop what has become known around the world as one of the groups leading the front line in the war on child exploitation on the Internet?  Or to be one of only 10 law enforcement agencies in America to be awarded a grant from the USDOJ?  And just how is it that the same Sheriff reeling in perpetrators who prowl the Internet for child victims is simultaneously developing one of the most comprehensive Internet safety education programs to take into America's schools?  Let's investigate.

The Sheriff of Bedford County
  Michael J. Brown (IPA Member since 1984 and Associate Secretary to Hong Kong) earned degrees from The American University, Washington, D.C., in Police Administration and The Administration of Justice, and started his law enforcement career in 1966 in the county in which he was born -- as a deputy with the Bedford County Sheriff's Office.  Brown's career would take him on to the U.S. Army, the U.S. Treasury Dept., the C.I.A., the Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of Justice -- International Criminal Investigation Training and Assistance Program in Central and South America and the Caribbean and as a consultant to Fortune 500 companies.

  Returning to his home county in the early '90s, Mike Brown built a modest mountainside home and settled in for some hard-earned peace and quiet with his wife, Janet and their only son, Matthew.  Then, in November of 1995, Mike Brown was elected Sheriff of Bedford County -- the first changing of the guard at the Sheriff's office in 24 years.  Since his taking the helm on 1 January, 1996, Sheriff Mike Brown has turned the heads of those on both sides of the law.  Brown seems to be continually distinguishing himself as one of America's most progressive and proactive sheriffs... even in the face of losing son Matthew to an automobile tragedy on 25 July 1997.  Mike Brown is one sheriff who, quite simply, never holds still for very long.

The County's Law Enforcement
  At first glance, Bedford County, Virginia looks like many small jurisdictions.  A closer look, however, reveals a county with one of the fastest-growing populations in America -- more than 24% in the last seven years alone.  Further, Bedford County spans the width between the cities of Roanoke and Lynchburg, making it among the most heavily-traveled and also one of Virginia's largest counties in land area. 

  Never one for the status quo, Sheriff Mike Brown and his initiatives have led to a more than 425% increase in drug arrests, a far-reaching crackdown on deadbeat parents leading to the collection of more than $4 million in monies for Bedford County's mothers, increases in pay and training for BCSO deputies, and more.  The County's legendary scenic beauty and pastoral setting disguise the fact that this is home base to one of the most innovative and resourceful law enforcement agencies in America.  With all of the head-turning activity going on, it is remarkable to note that the Bedford County Sheriff's Office has fewer than 70 employees... and has successfully launched what is now being hailed as "America's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force," Operation Blue Ridge Thunder.

  With the full blessing and active cooperation of federal, regional, state and local law enforcement agencies, including the U.S. Dept. of Justice--OJJDP, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the FBI, the U.S. Customs Service, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Virginia State Police, and others, Operation Blue Ridge Thunder (BRT) is clearly one of the few leading the way in the investigation and apprehending of the perpetrators of child pornography over the Internet as well as sexual predators who prowl cyberspace for their next child victims.  Of the problem, Sheriff Brown said, "Child Pornography in this country is reaching epidemic proportions and still there is no 'hue and cry' from society.  In fact, adult pornography gets more attention -- media coverage, political scrutiny and religious indignation -- than does child pornography, and this is wrong.  Adding to this scenario, law enforcement is woefully behind in assaulting this horrific crime.  According to our calculations, one million children have no future because of their involvement in this 'filth industry.'"

  What makes this law enforcement initiative singular is its proactive involvement in Internet safety education. 
  Brown says, "In this war, enforcement alone is not enough... but we can gain significant ground with education:  an informed Internet user is, for the most part, a safe one.  Kids are starting on computers as young as three.  We want every child to be aware that there are dangerous pitfalls out there... and how to avoid them.  We're taking the program to schools -- to the smallest and youngest common denominator -- the individual child.  We're making learning how to be a 'Safe Surfer' fun and exciting and cool... with corporate sponsors, professional athletes, cartoon characters and multimedia.  The kids are responding enthusiastically... and so are their parents and teachers."

  Law enforcement education is also a priority:  BRT investigators receive ongoing specialized training and host an intensive cops-only 3-day training program called "Conducting Undercover Investigations on the Internet," in Lynchburg, Va. International officers of the law are welcome.  Call the Bedford County Sheriff's Office at 540-586-4800 for details.

  Indeed, just as Sheriff Brown calls funding much of his crackdown on illegal drugs with drug forfeiture money "the ultimate in poetic justice," Operation Blue Ridge Thunder's undercover investigators use the Internet to investigate and apprehend criminals who use it to exploit children.  Pedophile chat rooms now empty instantly at the very mention of Bedford County.

  Statistics indicate that more than one million children are victimized annually by child abuse, including child pornography and other sexual exploitation.  There will be more than 600,000 abduction attempts on America's children this year, according to NCMEC, (that's 5 kids every four minutes).  Nearly 826,000 kids will be reported missing and entered into FBI computers this year, (that's 3 kids every two minutes).  The Internet population will more than double itself in calendar 1999 at the estimated rate of 811,000 new users logging on every day; use of the Internet as a tool for pedophiles and other exploiters of unwary children grows along with it.

  "Technology has become so affordable that anyone with the desire and $500 -- or less -- can be manufacturing child porn images and video and distributing it online in an afternoon," said Brown.  "The computer video camera that cost over $3,000 a few years ago can be had today for less than $60.  The Internet has virtually erased the constraints of time and distance, and has given validation and an accessible forum to what used to be a closet crime.  Child pornographers and pedophiles trade hundreds of thousands of sexually explicit images of children as if they're the baseball cards we traded as kids.  More than 20,000 were transmitted to us in our first few months of operation.  Some of the victims in these images are as young as 18 months; and each of these unspeakable images is a permanent record of a crime.  A child's innocence can never be replaced.  We work to shut down the manufacture and distribution of these images," said Sheriff Brown.  Another aspect is stopping sexual predators in their tracks.  "The number of pedophiles lurking in chat rooms for young children is staggering... and they'll go to enormous lengths to meet children in person for a sexual encounter.  We've had them come charging into Bedford County full steam ahead," Brown said.  "Just go to an IRC chat room and try to last more than one minute without being 'hit on.'"

  "Far, far more dangerous than a youngster seeing a 'dirty picture' on the Internet is the very real threat posed by sexual predators lurking in chat rooms.  They'll post a false personal profile and befriend children, often sending them gifts and always asking leading questions.  To prove a point, one of our NCMEC colleagues went looking on the Internet for information about his niece:  in less than 45 minutes, he found her full name, address, that she had a brother, where her parents worked and what time they get home, schools in her neighborhood, a detailed map to her home and a profile of surrounding terrain.  All this was easily uncovered by one of the good guys," Brown said.

  "The very nature of the Internet, and the criminals using it for ill, requires a renewed commitment on the part of all law enforcement agencies to work together.  Innovation and cooperation are paramount to success.  It's for our kids... our future," he said.

For additional information, visit:

Operation Blue Ridge Thunder at:  www.blueridgethunder.com and the Bedford County Sheriff's Office at:

www.co.bedford.va.us/Res/Sheriff