'Computer Cop' helps parents track kids

TAMPA - Do your kids know more about the internet and computers than you do? Are you worried that they may be victimized online without knowing it?

The Hillsborough Sheriff has something new to help you: it's called "Computer Cop."

As soon as you put the disk in your computer, up pops Sheriff David Gee.

"Hello, I'm Sheriff David Gee, and I'd like to thank you for your interest in Computer Cop," he says.

The Sheriff says he can't afford to assign enough deputies to growing computer crimes, many of which are directed at children.

"The bad guys understand it well, trust me" Gee said. "That's a tool for them, and you can bet what you don't know about computers, they do know. And that's their vehicle, and it's an instrument of many crimes, and they know how to manipulate children and on these computers -- no doubt about it."

Computer Cop searches everything from images to chats to browsing.

"So even if they delete the history in the web browser, you can come back to this and pick it right up. Just like in the days where we had to monitor our kids' activities on the playground, we have to monitor our children's activity on these computers," said Deputy Larry McKinnon.

While programs that are built into many operating systems will track what your kids do on the internet, the Sheriff's Office says what's different about Computer Cop is that it will go into social networking sites and search those keywords.

"Discuss or have conversations with individuals on Facebook, and unlike email, it disappears once that chat is over. With this program, you're able to go back and look at that log," McKinnon said.

And here's the best news: parents can get Computer Cop for free.

"The entire project is funded with trust fund money, which comes from forfeitures from drug dealers," Gee explained.

If you want a free copy of the software, contact the Sheriff's Community Outreach Division at 813-247-8115.