Police Departments from across the nation gathered in Atlanta for Law Enforcement Training on Child Exploitation, where they learned about the latest tactics that sexual predators use and how they are using social media.
The Lubbock Police Department was among the departments who attended. Lieutenant Ray Mendoza, Commander of Crimes Against Children said they learned that the top social media tools that predators are using are: Facebook Live, the Kik app, and Snapchat.
“These predators, that’s what they are doing, they are keeping up with technology because this is their business, this is what they do, this is how they get money, this is how they make their living. They are out there actively searching for kids who are on these apps. They learn as much as they can about that child including the family members,” Mendoza said.
Mendoza said these predators will go through the “grooming” process, where they work to learn personal information about their prey, and then make a connection either asking for pictures or to meet up. Sometimes the predators will even threaten extortion, stating they will share the pictures or information if the child doesn’t comply.
“As officers we go into people’s homes everyday and make traffic stops, so at this conference we were able to learn what kind of things to look out for, for signs that a child is involved in the sex trade or child pornography,” Mendoza said.
