Scott County sheriff to receive grant for fighting computer crime

The Scott County Sheriff's Department will be getting the help of a Missouri Department of Public Safety grant to help fight crime.

According to a release Wednesday from Scott County developer Joel Evans, the Internet Cyber Crime grant is awarding the sheriff's department about $30,000 to be used for training two officers in computer data retrieval.

The grant application was prepared by Evans, who was not available for comment Friday.

Over the past few years, the department has received increased complaints of computer-related crimes including fraud, harassment, distribution of pornography, stalking and reports of child predators primarily related to Internet use, Scott said in the release.

"It's becoming more of a demand every day," said Lt. Jerry Bledsoe.

Bledsoe added that much of the computer-related crime reported today is connected to some type of child exploitation.

Bledsoe, one of the department's Internet/computer crime investigators, will receive training with the grant money. He's already had some training in computer forensics -- how to retrieve payment records, client and contact data, accounting data and inventory levels from computers seized for investigation. Bledsoe said not many law enforcement agencies in Southeast Missouri have the ability to retrieve computer information and the training will provide a much-needed service to the department and other agencies.

"We've got to package up a computer to St. Louis or Springfield or halfway across the state" for investigation, he said. "Those people are busy, and so we wait."

The grant will fund 90 percent of the $30,537 program. The remaining local match of $3,054 will be requested from the Scott County Law Enforcement Restitution Fund, Scott said in the statement.

Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department also applied for the grant money but was denied, said Lt. David James.

James said the department applied for about $20,000 to be used for training.

"Everybody in law enforcement could use the extra funds if they're going to keep up with crime," he said.

Without the grant money, James said, the department will try to find other funding outside of taxpayer money to pay for the classes, which he said are expensive.

"If the money's available, we'll go forward," he said.

carel@semissourian.com

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