February was Teen Dating Violence (TDV) Prevention and Awareness Month and your Crime Stoppers of Houston joined the nationwide efforts by sharing information material (download our TDV Prevention flyer here), insightful blog entries (read here) and an eye-opening video (watch here). Through e-news and social media we diligently educated the communityat large on what teen dating violence is, what it may look like and what we can do to prevent it from happening and encouraged everyone to take a stand for respectful and healthy relationships. We also partnered with Sheriff Ron Hickman for a captive discussion at the Harris County Sheriff’s Office Town Hall Meeting at the beginning of the month that revealed staggering numbers: 1 in 3 adolescents in the U.S. is a victim of physical, sexual, emotional or verbal abuse from a dating partner. Approximately 8,325, or 21% of registered sex offenders that live in TX, live in Harris County.

Beyond that focus we continued to engage with the citizens of Houston on other as important crime related topics and to provide tips to stay safe. In partnership with The Buzz Magazines, Crime Stoppers Executive Director Rania Mankarious has touched on timely, thought-provoking issues on a new blog series “Sunday Mornings with Rania” (among others Homelessness in Houston, Open Carry Law or Animal Cruelty). She also discussed Valentine’s Safety with Anoushah Rasta on KPRC (in case you missed it watch the interview here).

Later in the month we talked with Rita Garcia on FOX 26 Houston about the work we do through our Safe School Student Ambassador program that empowers students to take campus safety seriously and into their own hand (click on the picture to the left to watch the Feel Good Friday story about Crime Stopper student ambassadors at Spring Branch ISD’s Cornerstone Academy).

Last but not least we attended the Greater Houston Partnership State of the County Luncheon, visited with communications students at the University of Houston Downtown, joined the Unity for a Solution Meeting, met with Council Members Ellen Cohen, Jack Christie, Karla Cisneros, Steve Le and  Mike Laster, as well as presented at the 21st Annual Campus Crime Stoppers Conference, in Odessa, TX.

Apart from our mission to keep Houston safe, we are committed to solving crime in the Harris County through our 713-222-TIPS (8477) tip line program, which the Houston Police Department highlighted as a national crime prevention model that strives to empower and motivate citizens to report crime tips anonymously. In February, we held 3 press conferences in partnership with the Harris County Constable’s Department Pct 6. and the Houston Police Department’s Homicide Division asking for the public’s assistance in identifying suspects responsible for aggravated robbery, capital murder and murder. Together with the Chron.com – Houston Chronicle we also kicked off  “Fugitive Friday” posts to further foster the success of the program.

For detailed numbers please read below!

The word cyber-security has been increasingly floating around to describe protection against an imminent and dangerous threat, but what is this threat and what is the specific solution that “cybersecurity” offers against the threat?

A recent poll by Identity Management Institute (IMI) confirmed my recent contemplation about the meaning of cybersecurity. Although we all think that we are on the same page when it comes to the definition of cybersecurity, not everyone agrees about what cybersecurity means yet many are using this scary buzzword to sell old solutions as new ones for the same problems which have existed for years.

Cyber security often refers to cyber defenses against major cyber threats or cyber attacks, cyber terrorism, cyber warfare, and cyber espionage. We all know what the word “security” means and how it fits into the overall definition of data protection vs. security as we have previously analyzed, but what does the word “cyber” really mean?

According to many definitions on the Internet, the word “Cyber” is a prefix used to describe a person, thing, or idea as part of the computer and information age. Taken from kybernetes, Greek for “steersman” or “governor,” it was first used in cybernetics, a word coined by Norbert Wiener and his colleagues. Common usages include cyberculture, cyberpunk, and cyberspace.

Now that we tie the word “cyber” to computers, systems, and everything digital, when we combine the words cyber and security, it seems as though cybersecurity is just a new name for Information Technology (IT) security or system security and digital data protection. This is of course nothing new and as information security professionals, we have been increasingly involved with computer security risks since the day computers started playing major roles in our businesses.

Granted, the biggest threat to digital data seems to be from the Internet as evidenced by the latest hack attacks, however, if some refer to the Internet as cyber as evidenced in the IMI poll above, then why not call cyber-security for what we think it is and use Internet-Security instead?

That said, internet security is protection against attacks originating from the internet targeting digital data including transactions processed or transferred over the internet. On the other hand, cybersecurity refers to the protection of systems and digital data regardless of where the attacks originate from or where digital data resides.

In other words, internet security is a subset of cyber security because a cyber threat does not necessarily involve the Internet, and, cyber-security is a subset of information security which is just the security of any system or digital data excluding all other forms of data.

Regardless of what everyone thinks about the scope and meaning of cyber-security, we can all agree that it’s about information security and the field appears to be growing and evolving very fast. Forbes recently listed the top national cyber security salary at $380,000, and it appears that there is a serious shortage of qualified chief information security officers which will get worse in the coming year.

Teen Dating Violence has been an issue since, like, the academy (or at least when it became culturally acceptable for adolescents to court). That intrinsic, humanistic necessity to dominate, and to manifest anger out by physical/verbal means is perennial. In the early-to-mid 20th century America, “teen dating violence” was not a notion of existence. In fact, any physical manifestation of abuse from partner to partner, which, at the time, largely executed by the male, was socially accepted, and simply seen as some sick declaration of compassion. And appallingly enough was so socially appropriate, that it was often depicted on television (the 50’s sitcom “I love Lucy” is infamous for this)! You’d think all the movements aimed to preserve civil rights would’ve effaced this issue today. I am sad to say that it is not only existent, but occurring now more than ever.

Of course, the vibrancy of this issue is enlivened with budding modernizations like social media and cellphones. And while one might think these conveniences may more easily verbalize and bring exposure the issue, they’re more often being used as platforms and interfaces to commit the sin in itself (ever hear of Cyber bullying?). Nowadays, Dating violence is indiscriminate to gender, race, and/or sexuality. According to Chip Thompson, founder of respect2all.org (an online site that aims to educate the public on this global aggravation), some examples include (but are not limited to) physical abuse, which can be defined as any intentional act causing injury or trauma to another person by way of bodily contact, sexual abuse, which includes unwarranted force or pressure to get a partner to consent, rape or attempted rape, and attempting or having sexual relations with a person who is under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and, more popularly, verbal and emotional abuse, which stems in the aggressor’s desire to control the other person’s behavior. The abuser tries to limit a dating partner’s ability to act independently, and undermines their confidence. Verbal abuse can include swearing at a partner, insulting and belittling them, and threatening or terrorizing them with words.

In my recent travels to northern Pakistan, I met with a number of women- In fact, calling them “women” is an inequitable abduction of their adolescence; they were girls. Dating violence in the “Gaow” (villages) was (and in no way am I trivializing the issue in America) infinitely more rapacious, only because it was not properly subjugated. Dating Violence was acid attacks, dowry deaths, bride burnings, and rape, not to disregard the heinous emotional and mental malevolence that is obviously also being exhibited. And what made these matters really unnerving was that there were absolutely no laws in some of these areas to protect the victims, not to mention, a complete and total absence of resources to emotionally service the victims. This, though a bit harshly, brings me to my plea. If you or someone you know is suffering from dating violence, which, as you know, can be physical AND/OR verbal, PLEASE UTILIZE your resources. Inform others. There are a number of anonymous talk lines, community-run organizations, psychiatric, and legal services available to only aid you. Please DO NOT squander your resources. Invest in YOUR future, and invest in YOURSELF.

In society, people tend to judge books by their cover.  They see teen couples go through difficulties and shrug it off as if it is not an issue, because of the simple fact that they are young. Teen Dating Violence is an epidemic affecting one in three teens.  It has no gender preference and could happen in any of relationship.  Unfortunately, many teens are not aware of the warning signs of an unhealthy relationship. HB121 states that every school in the state of Texas must implement a dating violence policy, which includes providing training to teachers and administrators.  It also mandates awareness education for students and parents. Many schools in the State of Texas have failed to carry out this mandate, most of whom do not even acknowledge it as a problem. Society needs to stop regarding teens as children who do not know what they’re doing. Teenagers are suffering primarily because of the fact that they are unaware of what a healthy relationship should be like. Teen dating violence needs stop and the only way to produce any factor of change is through education. School systems must start modeling and educating youth on what a healthy relationship is. Love is respect and no one in the world should ever have the right to make you doubt your value or surrender your will to them. If you ever need to talk to someone, remember that there are hotlines that can help you through anything.  You may call 1-866-331-9474 or text LOVEIS to 22522.  Both of these lines are available 24/7/365 and are operated by teens who are open to listen.

Safe Shopping is of high concern during the month of December since a lot of people have to get their holiday shopping done. Throughout the month, we educated Houstonians specifically on this topic by sharing eye opening facts and numbers as well as helpful tips to stay safe. Even though they are of particular significance at this time of the year, they should be paid attention to all year long. If you missed this important information, read them now.

Beyond that, we continued to diligently raise awareness about other types of crime affecting our City. Cultivating and growing partnerships with other organizations is part of our strategy to keep Houston safe. In December, we joined Adore Houston for their Monster Holiday Drive (pictured on the right) and were recognized as one of the 35 Houston-area charities to receive a grant for our anti-animal cruelty program at Houston PetSet’s 4th Annual Gifting Event. Furthermore, we attended KickStartKids Winter Belt Ceremony and presented to Wilder students at Northpointe Intermediate School to spread the important message of how to keep our children safe.

The new open carry law went into effect January 1, 2016, and last December we joined the Houston Police Department at their second informational meeting to learn more about the law as it pertains to our community and our students (Watch the meeting in length here).

AND last but not least, we had quite a few things to be excited about! We were selected as one of 12 deserving charities to participate in the Culture Map Charity Contest and WON PRIME Living’s first annual Readers’ Choice Awards in the categories “Best Nonprofit” and “Best Gala”.

THE MOST THRILLING MOMENT IN DECEMBER (at least for us): We got one step closer to being in our new home, the very first Crime Stoppers headquarters in the nation, The Dave Ward Crime Stoppers of Houston Building. Pictured on the below are Crime Stoppers Executive Director Rania Mankarious and Deputy Director Nichole Christoph watching our old building finally coming down!