Residents focus on prevention of crime, partner with officers

To help keep their neighborhoods safe, residents met with representatives of the sheriff's office and FBI to learn more about crime prevention at a Thursday meeting at Copperfield Church. Breaux talked about some of the definitions of various crimes, such as robberies versus burglaries, and overall advised the residents to continue to be watchful because when reports are up, crime is actually down, especially when it comes to suspicious people, thefts and vehicle burglaries, common in areas like Copperfield. Hinton, who is assigned to the Cyber division of the FBI, works as part of the Innocent Images Task Force in conjunction with the Houston Police Department and HCSO to combat online predators who are looking to sexually exploit children. Hinton said it has become easier for predator adults to lure and exploit children, and for children to unwittingly exploit themselves through sexting - sending inappropriate digital photographs or images of themselves to their boyfriends or girlfriends, or other forms of sharing pornographic images. Other than educating children about the potential dangers, Hinton recommends protecting home computers by limiting the time that youths can use them and installing parental controls.