Learning what's new on the crime scene, how police fight back

Combating such new crimes as identity theft and computer stalking -- as well as age-old problems like gangs, drugs and prostitution -- was the subject of the most recent session of Schaumburg's Citizens Police Academy.

Detective Chris Nowicki led the class through various aspects of his job conducting Internet investigations.

This involves everything from tracking down the sources of child pornography and bomb-making instructions on the Web to stopping and preventing the theft of personal information for financial gain or harassment.

On the latter subject, most people are becoming aware of the importance of shredding sensitive documents before they're thrown out, but Nowicki pointed out that safeguarding mail that arrives in your mailbox is just as important.

Likewise, one should never trust any online relationship, and parents should be particularly vigilant about kids' access to and use of the Web as a communications tool.

According to the University of New Hampshire's Crimes Against Children Research Center, one in five children ages 10 to 17 had received a sex solicitation online, and one in 33 had received an aggressive solicitation offering an in-person meeting, phone call or gift.

The most disturbing finding of the survey was that less than 10 percent of the incidents had actually been reported to police.

Special investigations: Going undercover. Using state-of-the-art surveillance technology. Learning the culture of street gangs and the telltale signs of drug use.

These are among the daily duties of the members of the police department's Special Investigations Bureau.

Gangs aren't a huge problem in Schaumburg, but there is a presence that must be watched, particularly at public places and events.

Though gangs are a phenomenon most people know something about, members of the bureau must truly become students of their culture -- learning their methods of communication and hierarchy of loyalty.

In many ways, gangs are structured no differently than most human organizations, the main difference being that their activities drift into the illegal.

While most people's first instinct is to immediately paint over gang graffiti on their property, bureau members need to see at least a photo of it first to know what they're dealing with. Officers are trained in the meaning of gang graffiti, but it isn't often accurately described by those unfamiliar with it.

Bureau members also showed how easy it is to find on the Web "full service" escorts based at local hotels. Making such arrests is "like shooting fish in a barrel," they said, but must occur only after a crime is clearly intended.

Even if every one were arrested, though, a new group is usually rotated in by the following week, officers said.

Bureau members also described their newest surveillance technology, but you'll have to take the class yourself to find out more about that.