Law
Enforcement Data Exchange (LEDX) Portal
Fri. May. 02, 2003
LOCAL GOVERNMENT While its benefits are renowned, the
Internet can also be used for criminal purposes. Stories
about the Internet being used as a tool to exploit children
are all too commonplace. In fact, the number of individuals
using the resources of the Internet to prey on children
is growing, according to Captain Rick Wiita of the Bedford
County Sheriff's office in Virginia. But what's comforting
to know is that the same technology is also playing
a big part in an effort to crack down on child predators.
Such predators so far as to use images, chat rooms,
e-mail and bulletin boards to locate and develop relationships
with children for purposes of sexual exploitation. But
local law enforcement is on the case. For example: Law-enforcement
officials across the United States were recently given
access to the Law Enforcement Data Exchange (LEDX),
a document-management-based portal that allows them
to share child-pornography and criminal-intelligence
information over the Internet.
"The truth of the matter
was that just three years ago, when it came to pursuing
child predators over the Internet, law enforcement
was way behind the technology curve," says Larry
Hunt, CEO and chief engineer at Integrated Digital
Systems/ScanAmerica (IDS), a Manassas, Va.-based integrator
selected by the Department of Justice to develop the
system.
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