This year, the Los Angeles, California, Police Department (LAPD) proudly celebrates its 140-year anniversary. The six men who became the LAPD’s first officers in 1869 could not have imagined the technology that has since become commonplace. To them, radio, television, air travel, cellular telephones, and the Internet would have seemed like magic. Even people living today can marvel at how technology and travel have made the world seem like a very small place.

Each technological advancement has presented unique challenges and opportunities for the law enforcement community, but none more so than the Internet. This vast source of information gives predators seemingly unlimited access to potential victims while also blurring jurisdictional lines—a situation exploited by thugs, thieves, and desperadoes of every type, every day. As with the Wild West of the 1860s, the Internet is a frontier desperately in need of someone who will protect the innocent, especially children. As so-called digital natives, the children of today are the first to grow up with the Internet. They seem to “point and click” their way around the world intuitively. Parents and caregivers with the best of intentions have equipped their children with unprecedented connectivity.