AST Digital Magazine April 2017 April 2017 | Page 12

Volume 11 April 2017 Edition (Learn More, courtesy of the National Sheriffs’ Association and YouTube) (Bedford County Sheriff’s Office (Bedford, Virginia) School Resource Officer Training. Courtesy of Safe Surfin’ and You- Tube) Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Under the leadership of Sheriff Brown, this De- partment of Justice task force, the Southern Virginia Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, SOVA ICAC for short, established in 1998, still maintains a 100% conviction rate in the ar- rest and prosecution of the sexual predators. Cyberbullying Awareness After experiencing two suicides by local youths in Virginia last year and later learning of the sui- cide of a friend’s son on the West coast, this Sheriff secured funding ($35,000) from private donors, to produce an educational DVD raising the awareness of the dangers of Cyberbullying and how to best recognize the signs that a child is being bullied and how best for parents act in response. This DVD is being offered to SROs throughout the country for training in their respective schools and communities. (Learn More, courtesy of Speak City Heights and YouTube) The Safe Surfin’ Foundation Founded by the Sheriff, it continues to lead the nation in supplying Internet safety educational materials throughout the country at no cost to the user. Thousands of age-appropriate lesson plans have been supplied to schools, home schools, church groups, scout troops, libraries and con- cerned parents, to educate our youth beginning in kindergarten through the twelfth grade. (Find out More, courtesy of Safe Surfin and YouTube) Rural Bike Patrol In response to numerous break-ins in some of the more densely populated areas of the county, Corporal 12