Phoenix police promote website to report child porn
Apr 3, 2014, 5:00 AM | Updated: 5:00 am
PHOENIX — Valley police are asking you to help them fight child pornography.
They’re promoting a website in which you can give police tips if you believe something suspicious is going on.
The website is azicac.org, which stands for Arizona Internet Crimes Against Children.
“You can go to the website, and it has cyber tip links, links to local law enforcement agencies and all of the tools you need to report these horrific crimes,” said Phoenix Police Lt. Patrick Hoffman.
Hoffman said that child pornography is a big problem, not just in Arizona, but across the country.
“This is the type of crime that has no social or economic boundaries,” said Hoffman. “It involves everybody in our community. Offenders store, view, create and distribute these horrific videos and photographs.”
Phoenix police arrested 200 people last year for involvement in child pornography. Chief Daniel Garcia said that they also rescued 69 children who were victims.
Garcia said that one way those involved in pornography can be caught is by someone accidentally seeing one of the images on a computer. He urged people to log on to the police website if they see anything suspicious.
“You don’t want to go home and say ‘You know, I think I saw something today but didn’t take the opportunity to report it,'” Garcia said. “It’s our responsibility. You could be saving a child’s life. You could certainly change their future.”