While fault can be found with the roundabout way in which the money arrived, the announcement of a grant to help the Vancouver Police Department track down child-sex predators is worthy of applause.
A federal grant of $493,000 from the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services has been accepted by the city council. This will reimburse the police department for the entry-level salary and benefits for one officer and one civilian computer forensics investigator for a period of two years.
Before we examine the need for such a grant, it is important to discuss the fact that this is a federal grant.
The Office of Community Oriented Policing Services — or COPS — operates under the U.S. Department of Justice. According to their Web site: “COPS . . . advances the practice of community policing in America’s state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies.”
A wonderful idea, indeed. Although the cynic would sarcastically — and rightly — point out that nothing says “community policing” quite like sending money to the federal government. It would make more sense for taxpayers to rout the funds directly to their local police departments as they see fit, rather than initially sending them to Washington, D.C.
Again according to the COPS Web site, in fiscal year 2010, the department allotted more than $600 million to local police departments across the country. That’s $600 million that was in those communities to begin with. Considering the efficiency with which the federal government typically handles its finances, we’re guessing there is a better way to assist local police.
That said, there’s no doubt the recent grant can be put to good use by the Vancouver PD. The officer and the computer investigator will work with the department’s sex offender monitoring, career criminal apprehension, digital evidence, and child and sexual exploitation units to stop online predators and investigate sex trafficking.
These reflect the kind of crimes that people typically think happen elsewhere. Until you consider that six suspected pimps and eight suspected prostitutes recently were arrested in Vancouver as part of a sting operation in which two underage girls were rescued. Until you consider that a sting the previous year also nabbed two underage prostitutes in Vancouver.
Former Congresswoman Linda Smith, through her organization Shared Hope International, has tirelessly worked to halt sex trafficking, particularly of underage girls. But the Internet ensures that there will be no shortage of predators having access to prey, and no shortage of vermin willing to sell those victims.
As Vancouver Police Chief Cliff Cook told Columbian reporter Andrea Damewood: “The positions are going to help us take a hard look at a problem that we have only been able to make infrequent attempts at solving.”
Cook said employees in the new positions likely will patrol the Internet, posing as underage girls or boys in an effort to lure criminals. And as anybody who has ever watched NBC’s “To Catch a Predator” can attest, there is no shortage of such criminals.
With the grant covering a two-year period, police and community leaders will have the opportunity to assess the effectiveness of the program before deciding whether to come up with permanent funding.
Overall, the latest grant marks the continuation of a strong effort against a heinous type of crime. Earlier this year, legislators unanimously passed and Gov. Chris Gregoire signed a law increasing the penalties for sex trafficking and commercial abuse of a minor.
It’s a worthy cause deserving of increased attention from police and the addition of officers dedicated to fixing the problem. But it’s not one that should require the routing of funding through the federal government.
