New York Honored as First of Six Cyber Safe Cities In Nationwide Program



Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly (center) accepts the Cyber Safe City award on behalf of New York City from Rich Bray (left), vice president of MSN North America, and Ernie Allen, co-founder and president of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC). Click image for high-res version.

NEW YORK May 1, 2003 MSN® and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), one of the nations leading child advocacy groups, today named New York a Cyber Safe City, the first of six American cities to be honored for championing online safety in their communities. At a press conference at the New York Public Library kicking off the national Cyber Safe City tour, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly and the New York City Police Department Computer Investigation and Technology Unit (CITU) officially accepted the designation on behalf of the city.

“Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly and I are proud of the pioneering work of the New York Police Departments Computer Investigation and Technology Unit and are thrilled to receive the Cyber Safe City national recognition,”
said New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.

“We are happy to be recognized by the Cyber Safe City program for our ongoing efforts to make the Internet safe for children,”
said New York City Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly.
“The New York City Police Department is committed to finding sexual predators on the Web and putting them behind bars. I also want to commend the detectives in our Computer Investigation and Technology Unit for their outstanding work in consistently bringing these criminals to justice.”

The Cyber Safe City designation is part of a nationwide initiative recognizing cities that are helping keep children safe online and encouraging other cities to follow the lead of these online safety role models. The Cyber Safe City program is designed to provide resources to law enforcement agencies, educators and families for online safety education.

Other cities that have been selected to receive the MSN and NCMEC Cyber Safe City award are Naperville, Ill.; Dallas; San Diego; Sioux Falls, S.D.; and Seattle. With the designation come additional resources and tools to help law enforcement professionals continue their outstanding work in educating citizens about online safety.

“Our comprehensive program not only helps further New York Citys commitment to protecting its residents online by providing resources and educational tools to law enforcement, but it offers national recognition for the great work New York City is doing to promote a safer Internet experience,”
said Ernie Allen, co-founder and president of NCMEC.

In addition, best practices that Cyber Safe Cities such as New York have developed to address the issue of online safety are being made available nationally at http://www.staysafeonline.com to serve as a resource for other communities across the country interested in replicating their good work.

“Our goal in creating the Cyber Safe City program with NCMEC is to recognize the great work and commitment to online safety made by New York and to encourage other cities to follow its example,”
said Rich Bray vice president, for MSN North America.
“As a world leader in Internet software and services, MSN is committed to creating software and providing resources that enable individuals and families to have a fun, useful and safe online experience.”

New York was selected as a Cyber Safe City because of the commitment to online safety made by law enforcement, city leaders and educators. In 1995, the NYPD founded the countrys first Computer Investigation and Technology Unit (CITU), a subdivision of the Special Investigation Divisions of the Detective Bureau. CITU has aggressively and successfully dealt with several child endangerment and pornography cases involving the Internet.

In addition to the focus of CITU, more than 60 NYPD employees have participated in training at NCMEC on how to address computer-facilitated crimes against children. City agencies including the Office of the Mayor and the New York City Technology Steering Committee demonstrated their commitment by creating the Office of Technology to promote citywide technology initiatives. In addition, the New York City Department of Education has provided online safety guidelines to more than 550 elementary and middle schools in 22 districts.

To find out more about how to stay safe online and about the activities in each of the Cyber Safe Cities, law enforcement personnel, educators, parents and kids are encouraged to visit http://www.staysafeonline.com/.

About the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children is a 501(c)(3), nonprofit organization that works in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Justices Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. NCMEC has access to both the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) and National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (NLETS). NCMEC operates the CyberTipline, an online mechanism to report child sexual exploitation such as online enticement of children for sex acts and child pornography. Mandated by the U.S. Congress in 1998, the CyberTipline has received over 120,000 reports leading to hundreds of arrests of child predators. Created in 1984, NCMEC has aided law-enforcement officials in the search for more than 89,000 missing children. More than 73,000 children have been recovered as a result. More information about NCMEC is available by calling (800) THE-LOST (843-5678) or visiting http://www.missingkids.com/ .

About MSN

MSN has 8.7 million subscribers and attracts more than 300 million unique users worldwide per month. With localized versions available globally in 34 markets and 18 languages, MSN is a world leader in delivering Web services to consumers and digital marketing solutions to businesses worldwide. MSN 8 is the first Internet software product to have earned

the trusted Good Housekeeping Seal. The most useful and innovative online service today, MSN brings consumers everything they need from the Web to make the most of their time online. MSN is located on the Web at http://www.msn.com/. MSN worldwide sites are located at http://www.msn.com/worldwide.ashx.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software any time, any place and on any device.

Microsoft, MSN and the MSN logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.

The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

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