Larry Grothaus, Lead Product Manager MSN, Dallas Mayor Laura Miller and J. Paul Grayson, CEO Advisor for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children celebrate the designation of Dallas as a Cyber Safe City.
DALLAS, May 13, 2003 — MSN
®
and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), one of the nations leading child advocacy groups, today named Dallas a Cyber Safe City — one of only six U.S. cities to be honored — and recognized local police officers Lt. Bill Walsh, Sgt. Byron Fassett and Detective Steven Nelson as Cyber Safe City Heroes for championing online safety in their community. Mayor Laura Miller kicked off the Cyber Safe City activities by issuing an official online safety proclamation at an event held at Dallas City Hall.
“The Dallas Police Department, members of the Dallas community and various state officials have dedicated themselves to ensuring that our children are safer online,”
Miller said.
“Were thrilled our hard work and diligence in online safety has been recognized, and we hope our commitment to fighting cybercrime will serve as an example for communities nationwide.”
The Cyber Safe City designation is a nationwide initiative recognizing cities that are pioneering the drive toward helping keep the nations children safer online. The program encourages cities across the United States to follow the lead of these online safety role models. The Cyber Safe City program also provides resources to law enforcement agencies and families for online safety education in Dallas and throughout the United States. The education and training resources MSN and NCMEC are providing locally are being made available nationwide through http://www.staysafeonline.com/ .
“Our comprehensive program not only helps further Dallas commitment to protecting its residents online by providing resources and educational tools to law enforcement, but it offers national recognition for the great work Dallas is doing to promote a safer Internet experience,”
said J. Paul Grayson, CEO Advisor for NCMEC.
Dallas, along with the other Cyber Safe Cities – New York; Naperville, Ill.; San Diego; Sioux Falls, S.D.; and Seattle — will receive the MSN and NCMEC Cyber Safe City award, along with additional resources and tools to help them continue their outstanding work in educating their citizens about online safety.
“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,”
said Larry Grothaus, lead product manager for MSN.
“Our goal in creating the Cyber Safe City program is to recognize the great work and commitment to online safety made by Dallas and to encourage other cities to follow Dallas example.”
Dallas was selected by MSN and NCMEC for the Cyber Safe City designation because it has demonstrated an extensive commitment to helping ensure that its residents have a safer online experience. Law enforcement agents Lt. Bill Walsh, Sgt. Byron Fassett and Detective Steven Nelson, along with the Dallas Public Library and the Dallas Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, are among the top advocates for online safety in the nation. The success of Operation Avalanche, a first-of-its-kind online safety initiative involving unprecedented cooperation among local, state and federal law enforcement personnel, further demonstrates Dallas commitment to online safety.
“I want to commend the officers in our Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force for their outstanding work in consistently bringing cybercriminals to justice,”
said Dallas Chief of Police Terrell Bolton.
“We are thrilled to be recognized by the Cyber Safe City program for our ongoing efforts to help make the Internet safe for children.”
As an ongoing demonstration of their commitment to online safety, the Dallas Police Department and ICAC Task Force work closely with the Texas Internet Bureau, a division of the Texas Attorney Generals office. The Internet Bureau works with local, state and federal authorities to prosecute crimes involving child pornography; monitors Web sites; and takes enforcement actions against those not in compliance with the Childrens Online Privacy Protection Act.
“The Office of the Attorney General is committed to helping protect the Internet for children and families,”
said Greg Abbott, Texas attorney general.
“To that end, we recognize and celebrate the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and MSN Cyber Safe City program as a step toward keeping kids safer online and ensuring that the citizens of Dallas and the state of Texas are protected.”
The Cyber Safe City tour kicked off May 1 in New York City, where MSN and NCMEC announced a program to recognize six cities for their outstanding work in online safety and to provide the recognized cities with additional tools and resources to help them expand their online safety programs. Activities in the first Cyber Safe City included appearances from
“Americas Most Wanted”
host John Walsh; NCMEC Co-Founder and President Ernie Allen; Rich Bray, vice president of MSN North America; and New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly. Nationally recognized online safety expert Detective Mike
“Sully”
Sullivan and Internet Mom Robin Raskin were also on hand for the May 1 kickoff.
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.
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