"What Happens When Cops Don't Have Modern Tools?"
  09/01/2000

The Philadelphia Police Department was taxed during the late night hours of August 23, 2000 when I called to report a serious threat of suicide that someone communicated to me over the Internet. I was in IRC chat when a user, who said they were a female, using the nickname of LuvLee18 appeared in the Dalnet chatroom #Pennsylvania. When she came in, her conversation was friendly -- friendly only if you were psychotic. She was speaking of death and dying.

“If the world doesn’t kill me, I will have to do it myself,” LuvLee18 announced to the room. I sent a private message to several people in the room, asking if they knew the person. None of the regulars I spoke with knew the nickname. I also sent a private message to LuvLee18, asking if the person needed to talk. The response was less than enticing on my end. “What’s it to you if I kill myself?” Needless to say, I tried to communicate to the person that life has its ups and downs, and the downs sometimes get really far down, but never so down that suicide is an answer. LuvLee18 wasn’t being sold on commonsense and logic. In fact, by this time, the person countered others in the open room, acknowledging that they had weapons at their disposal.

“I got a knife. I got a f***ing gun. They’re here with me.”

“I’m waiting for the f***ing booze and pills to make me brave enough to use one of them.”

“You think I’m f***ing around? Wanna come watch me die? I’ll let you in for the show for free, bastard! F**k you!”

“If you really wanna know where I’m at, come and find me, a**hole. Let me die in peace.”

The first place I called was the City Hall switchboard, asking which department in the police department would be most able to handle this sort of call. I was switched to homicide at police headquarters. After I spoke with the detective, I was told to call back after 9 a.m. and “maybe somebody then will be able to help you.” The original call to homicide was made at 11:25 p.m.

After that, I tried the Federal Bureau of Investigations, since it could be a matter that crosses state lines. The local office was closed. So then I tried calling my local police district. I was told to call the Northeast Philadelphia Detective Branch. It was now 11:39 p.m.

The Northeast Detectives listened. I spoke with one detective, who was took the server information on the person, and said he would contact Earthlink to track the person’s location. He called me back to advise me that Earthlink said it would only “cooperate with cops in matters like that.” He said he laughed at the operator and said, “I am the cops.” Earthlink asked him to prove it. He gave them his telephone number and told the Earthlink representative to call Philadelphia directory assistance and ask for the number. They said, “Oh, yeah! That would work.”

While on the phone, I asked the detective what the major problem was with the police. He laughed and began telling me a horror story. “We just got push button, touch-tone phones up here a year ago,” he said. “We have almost all typewriters up here, too. Where do you think we are going to get a computer to track someone on the Internet?”

What’s the deal, Detective? Why doesn’t the city bring you into the year 2000?

“You know, there was a partnership that was formed a few years ago with local businesses,” the detective told me. “It would have brought a lot of computers into the department, but because the appearance of impropriety may have cropped up, maybe, it was ditched.”

Who feels safe?

I asked him if he or anyone in the office had email. “Yeah, one guy does at home, but he isn’t here now.” Wait a second detective. I mean official police email. No one has an official email account? 

“Nope. We feel happy to have these new phones. We had to dial numbers up until last year on those old rotary phones. Computers and email are probably a long way off.”

OK. I feel safe.

I’m not sure who to begin bashing. I think it must be the mayor and police chief. The mayor is one person to blast, for sure. The current Philadelphia mayor is John Street, a former loud-mouthed activist turned loud-mouthed councilman, then onto his mayoral position. He replaces former city D.A. Ed Rendell. Fast Eddie held the reins of the city for eight years. As top guru for the city, the mayor should see to it that all agencies have the necessary tools to perform the mission. In this day and age, computers are common tools, especially for investigations. As a journalist, I’ve used computers to track people down, as well as many other things. Many politicians used to hate it when I would run a spreadsheet and evaluate how money was being spent or allocated - and call them to the carpet on the deal. They are a couple of uses for computers. I’m sure police agencies have several uses, as well. Not in the Philadelphia Police Department, though.

Maybe Mayor Street needs to forget about his $1 million dollar office remodeling project and buy some computers for cops. Maybe Mayor Street needs to forget about build a new stadium in the city’s Chinatown section - a much-disputed site. That project is estimated to cost just less than $2 billion. 

Do you think Philadelphia’s mayor needs to re-examine his priorities for the city? If so, drop Mayor John Street an email today and let him know. While you’re at it, look up the mayor of your city and call him to the carpet on the status of the local police department’s computer technology. If someone sent you child pornography, would you local police department have the know-how to even begin an investigation? Would your local police department have even a vague idea of what the Internet is, beyond the wild misconception of it being “an evil thing” where anything goes? 

It’s really up to you to find out before some version of LuvLee18 makes comments to you, or you open your mail to find child porn. The more informed you are, the better prepared you are for life. Just remember, life happens, but you don’t have to be a victim of life. Think globally all you want, but act locally.

  - by Dave Jackson (Scoop0901)