Pedo Bear- LE Alert information

[Flying Pig]

Warning to parents, youth leaders and teachers, etc.

This information is being put out in the LE community for dispersal. "Pedo Bear" is being used as a symbol amongst child porn consumers as a way of identifying fellow pedophiles.  Yes, they associate with each other. T-Shirts, stickers, etc.  Pedo Bear is a Japanese character.

There have been many instances where men wearing Pedo Bear costumes have shown up at large children's events posing for photos with kids. One event was a comic book conference in San Diego. The character was NOT part of the venue and nobody knew he was there. The freak just decided to show up and pose for photos with kids and hand out candy.
In LE that is called Erotica. I have seen this myself where some idiot will bring an animal, a puppy or kittens and offer to take photos of YOUR child with his puppy, with HIS camera, and then get your name and address to mail you the photos of YOUR kid with his dog. And you cannot (or maybe you can) imagine how many parents freely gave this guy their information. And when I showed up at the city park, I was the bad guy when I arrested him. One father even told me to go off and try finding real criminals and that all this person was doing was trying to make kids happy.   Hmmm, guess what, anyone want to guess what the guy with the puppy taking the photos was on parole for?

Just be aware these people are using a real cartoon character for their own identifier. So dont just knock someone out if they happen to have the t-shirt, but perhaps follow them around for a couple hours or take a closer look.  ......And knowing is half the battle!

(One link deleted because it may have inappropriate photos)

http://www.pedobear.org/

[Eclipse]

non-CAP relationship as well as likely misunderstanding by California agencies prompted edit...

[Lawson]

Pedobear has been a meme on /b/ for about 3-4 years or so. I'm surprised this is just now being released.

[A.Member]

Fail. 

This is a bit like saying Smokey the Bear is responsible for the fires in CA.

Seems they don't understand Pedobear is an internet joke.

Anyway, relationship to CAP?

[HGjunkie]

Google never fails to provide a opposite to something.

[Lawson]

Pedobear made a polish newspaper during the winter olympics. I guess the artist didnt understand he wasnt an Olympics character.

[Smokey]

The relationship to CAP is.....we have young people called cadets in our organization.

Any information to help protect them from wack jobs is CAP related.

Flying Pig...I got bulletin also at work...thanks for sharing it here.

[Майор Хаткевич]

Pedobear has been a meme on /b/ for about 3-4 years or so. I'm surprised this is just now being released.

I pitty the next /b/tard who wears a pedobear T-Shirt in Cali because he thinks it's cool due to 4chan...

[Flying Pig]

non-CAP relationship as well as likely misunderstanding by California agencies prompted edit...

Do you want to contact the Department of Justice Sexual Predator Task Force and tell them its all a misunderstanding? 858-268-5409 ask for Agent Jones.  Im sure he'd love to talk to you.

The character itself is a real comic book character, yes.  It has been adopted by pedophiles and child porn brokers to identify friendlies in the "industry".

Relevance to CAP?  CAP is a youth organization that has in the past recruited people later arrested for this very thing.  CAPTalk had a long time forum member who was heavily involved in CP in his wing who was arrested and convicted for distributing child pornography.  Do you want his name?

Perhaps a prospective member shows up with a window sticker (which they do have and pedophiles have been contacted with it on their vehicles.)  A little information goes a long way.  Your welcome.

Sorry, was this information a little to real life for some of you?

[HGjunkie]

[Flying Pig]

^Probably not a thread for jokes SSgt.

[dwb]

It has been adopted by pedophiles and child porn brokers to identify friendlies in the "industry".

It has also been adopted by smart alecs on the Internet with oddball senses of humor as a joke.  So how do you tell the two groups apart?

[A.Member]

The relationship to CAP is.....we have young people called cadets in our organization.

Any information to help protect them from wack jobs is CAP related.

Flying Pig...I got bulletin also at work...thanks for sharing it here.

I tell ya what...

How actually getting to know the people that work with your cadets and making assessments that way rather then waiting for them to show up with a sign on their chest.

The bulletin is silly and I stick by my Smokey the Bear analogy.

[davidsinn]

^Probably not a thread for jokes SSgt.

But it is. When I first saw the subject line I thought it was a joke. The announcement is stupid. "Funny guys" the internet over use it as a joke. I highly doubt real pedophiles would use it as an IFF like your announcement states for this reason alone.

[wuzafuzz]

The relationship to CAP is.....we have young people called cadets in our organization.

Any information to help protect them from wack jobs is CAP related.

Flying Pig...I got bulletin also at work...thanks for sharing it here.

I tell ya what...

How actually getting to know the people that work with your cadets and making assessments that way rather then waiting for them to show up with a sign on their chest.

I'll tell ya what.  How about you do both?  Sure, there may be instances of innocent wear.   Knowing what you now know, you better exercise some extra caution if you see this.  I'd sure hate to be held to answer for something going wrong after ignoring a warning about creeps wearing a big red flag. 

Learning to recognize and intelligently evaluate potential danger signs is not paranoid.  It's being responsible based on the knowledge you know have. 

[Smokey]

Sorry you guys think it is a joke......
Flying pig and I have both arrested these wack jobs and have dealt with the carnage they cause to the victims.

My son's former cadet squadron had a senior member and his son ( a cadet but over 18 at the time) arrested for lewd acts with a child that involved several victims, fortunately none were cadets.  But he and his son were active members.   

These folks are out there, you may joke,  but to the victims...it isn't funny.

[HGjunkie]

I thought this discussion was about a Bear that was drawn and has made its way into the trash dumps of the internet (4chan). IMO, anybody using Pedobear to transfer innapropriate material involving minors is a dipwad because of the widespread knowledge of this meme.

[davidsinn]

Sorry you guys think it is a joke......
Flying pig and I have both arrested these wack jobs and have dealt with the carnage they cause to the victims.

My son's former cadet squadron had a senior member and his son ( a cadet but over 18 at the time) arrested for lewd acts with a child that involved several victims, fortunately none were cadets.  But he and his son were active members.   

These folks are out there, you may joke,  but to the victims...it isn't funny.

The crime is not a joke. But thinking that they would use that symbol is. I've seen it for years in comments after a newstory discussing a crime of this nature. It's a form of black humor. I don't agree with it but it's there nonetheless.

[Pylon]

Pedobear has been an internet meme for years and actually mocks pedophiles: http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/pedobear . 


This is neither breaking news, nor terribly accurate, nor terribly related to CAP.  If you're judging that someone is a pedophile by them wearing this wide-spread internet joke on their t-shirt (when these shirts are in fact sold as jokes), then you might as well also put out an urgent LE Alert that anybody wearing an hero tshirt is going to recommend suicide to other people.


The crime is not a joke, and obviously very serious.  Pedobear on the other hand is spread by thousands of people with weird senses of humor on the internet who are not pedophiles, mostly a bunch of 4Chan users.

[SARDOC]

Part of the reason for the recent resurgence of PEDOBEAR is that an adult dressed up as pedobear was attending ComicCon in San Diego taking pictures and passing out candy to prepubescent girls.  Law Enforcement agencies tend to share intelligence with each other.  Such as they have identified Pedophile groups distributing Kiddie Porn and networking based on identification of each other using pedobear.  The same way gang members identify each other with colors, signs, hats, markings, etc...

Yes it was intended as a joke, but be aware that some are using it for nefarious purposes.  I think the point of the OP was just for you to increase your own Situational Awareness...ya know especially when it comes to protecting your kids and cadets.

[lordmonar]

This is on par with Clowns.

Some pedophiles use clown costumes to get access to their victums....but that does not mean all clowns are pedophiles.

As for the idea that someone at COMICOM wore a costume that we need to be worried about.......well you will have to arrest about half of those who attended!

Child predators are not a joke.....but as has been stated before....we need to be careful not to over react to some of this intel.

I think this is about the same as the Telly-Tubby Scare in the 90's or the Spong-Bob Scare in 200X's.

[PA Guy]

Part of the reason for the recent resurgence of PEDOBEAR is that an adult dressed up as pedobear was attending ComicCon in San Diego taking pictures and passing out candy to prepubescent girls.  Law Enforcement agencies tend to share intelligence with each other.  Such as they have identified Pedophile groups distributing Kiddie Porn and networking based on identification of each other using pedobear.  The same way gang members identify each other with colors, signs, hats, markings, etc...

Yes it was intended as a joke, but be aware that some are using it for nefarious purposes.  I think the point of the OP was just for you to increase your own Situational Awareness...ya know especially when it comes to protecting your kids and cadets.

:clap: :clap:

[DBlair]

I'm involved with the BSA and some other organizations and will certainly be passing this on. Thanks for bringing this to light. With so many pedophiles/child predators out there, we need to be vigilant in our efforts to protect the youth.

[Johnny Yuma]

non-CAP relationship as well as likely misunderstanding by California agencies prompted edit...

Do you want to contact the Department of Justice Sexual Predator Task Force and tell them its all a misunderstanding? 858-268-5409 ask for Agent Jones.  Im sure he'd love to talk to you.

The character itself is a real comic book character, yes.  It has been adopted by pedophiles and child porn brokers to identify friendlies in the "industry".

Relevance to CAP?  CAP is a youth organization that has in the past recruited people later arrested for this very thing.  CAPTalk had a long time forum member who was heavily involved in CP in his wing who was arrested and convicted for distributing child pornography.  Do you want his name?

Perhaps a prospective member shows up with a window sticker (which they do have and pedophiles have been contacted with it on their vehicles.)  A little information goes a long way.  Your welcome.

Sorry, was this information a little to real life for some of you?

Your DOJ agent is about 2 years behind the curve. Pedo Bear in the internet may have started out as a way for pedos to ID each other but it's now been relegated to comedy status. There' are a number of discussion boards that are full of parents and LEO's (AR15.com for one) where PB's been a source of a running joke for a year or more.

[FARRIER]

Thank you for the heads up. I would rather have over-reaction in these matters.

[Sleepwalker]

FlyingPig & Smokey:

   Thank you so much for posting this information.  It may be "old news" to many people, but this is the first time I have ever heard of it.  I am sure there are a lot of Senior Members out there like me who work primarily with Cadets, but we are totally naive and ignorant about things of this nature.

   Many years ago we had a 'bad apple' such as this and he was flushed out by the LEO in our Squadron.  It's a good thing he was there, because the rest of us had no idea that the stuff this guy was saying and doing were "red flags", but the Cop knew immediately because he had ready access to information.

   Please continue to disseminate any information that can help us better protect our Cadets, it is appreciated. 

[Nathan]

I think there is a misunderstanding here.

Nobody is blowing off the honest desire to protect against child abuse. The arguments being presented are not because people wouldn't respond to a genuine threat.

The problem is that this character does not actually represent the threat. Contrary to the opinion of the warning, most of the people wearing this shirt are not going to be pedophiles or support pedophilia. They are participating in an inside joke, localized mainly to the 4chan community. That's all. Automatically assuming the character is some sort of secret code is not only incorrect (because it's not), but spreads paranoia of something that isn't dangerous and of people who aren't necessarily dangerous. They just find humor in a joke you don't get that's directed against pedophiles.

Sorry to put it so bluntly, but the DOJ is dead wrong, and a quick look at the laughs from people who have known about this joke for years confirms it. I normally wouldn't care if the police and CAP membership wants to pursue something useless on their own time, but given that the vast majority of people who will suffer from this misjudgment are completely innocent of pedophilia (and like most people, completely against it), then I think that it is pretty important to get the facts straight.

[Ned]

Sorry to put it so bluntly, but the DOJ is dead wrong, and a quick look at the laughs from people who have known about this joke for years confirms it.

Nathan,

So, why exactly do you think the DOJ is "dead wrong?"

You know, the professionals who devote their lives to the subject.  The men and women who spend 40+ hours a week on pedophiles.  The same ones with all the college degrees and who work with consulting experts in academia, corrections, and shrinks.  The folks who actually interview pedophiles.  And who have spent hours working with victims and family members.  Folks who work undercover both online and in person.

Oh yeah, you found the truth on the internet.

Thanks for the "heads-up."

(Hint: It is one thing to say that you think they might be overly cautious or perhaps that the bulletin is being taken out of context - but it is reasonably breathtaking to flat out assert that the professionals are "dead wrong."  At least without some sort of support for your position other than what you have seen on the net. Wouldn't you agree?)

Of course at least some folks wearing the symbol are participating in what they think of as a "joke" about pedophilia, and may even think they are doing so in a good-natured way and as some sort of statement.

But it appears that at least some folks indeed do use the symbol as a way to connect with other like-minded folks.  And that is the danger LE is warning us about.

Think of it this way - not every person who wears a swastika is a Nazi.  The symbol was widely used in multiple cultures before the Nazis appropriated it.  Today, some people wear the symbol as a "joke," attempting to indicate their contempt of mass murderers.  Certainly actors wearing it for a role do not harbor secret thoughts of returning the furher to power.  Some people even wear it for religous reasons.  But there are still plenty of skinheads around, too.  So it someone came up to me wearing a prominent swastika, I will ratchet my SA up a notch.  Even though some people wear it as some sort of "joke."

[A.Member]

Many years ago we had a 'bad apple' such as this and he was flushed out by the LEO in our Squadron.  It's a good thing he was there, because the rest of us had no idea that the stuff this guy was saying and doing were "red flags", but the Cop knew immediately because he had ready access to information.

Was he wearing a shirt with Pedo Bear on it?   If not, how on earth was he discovered?

BTW, also be on the lookout for people dressed in clown outfits and mimes.  They too are trouble.

As mentioned multiple times earlier, the seriousness of child predators is not at question here.  However, the silly alert bulletin that suggests a popular internet joke will somehow help identify these people is.  I'll argue that you're far more likely to see a teen (perhaps one of your own cadets) with a Pedo Bear shirt than you are an actual child predator.  I'm also willing to bet the people getting "alarmed" by this are likely over 40 and not as tech/internet savvy, as evidenced by some here that indicate they've never heard of this despite it being huge on many web forums for years.   This is really more of a generational thing.  The bottom line is that parents/youth leaders should be ever vigilant with the people that come in contact with their kids/young people.  To think they might be easily identified by some sort of logo is naive at best...and to continue sensationalizing this goofy notion is absurd.

[Thunder]

This is like the Feb 20th 2009 bulletin circulated to Missouri Law Enforcement to be on the lookout for domestic terrorists - easy to spot, they have the Libertarian and Ron Paul Bumperstickers.. 

Well all know *THAT* was an accurate generalization by professionals, right? /sarcasm

[Nathan]

Sorry to put it so bluntly, but the DOJ is dead wrong, and a quick look at the laughs from people who have known about this joke for years confirms it.

Nathan,

So, why exactly do you think the DOJ is "dead wrong?"

You know, the professionals who devote their lives to the subject.  The men and women who spend 40+ hours a week on pedophiles.  The same ones with all the college degrees and who work with consulting experts in academia, corrections, and shrinks.  The folks who actually interview pedophiles.  And who have spent hours working with victims and family members.  Folks who work undercover both online and in person.

Oh yeah, you found the truth on the internet.

Thanks for the "heads-up."

I got my information about what the "police" are saying from this link:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/rebeccae/pedobear-police-warning-a-seemingly-innocent-mena

(FWI, there is some rumor about this whole issue being a hoax, possibly put out by a 4channer...)

Pedobear being a mascot? I haven't seen any evidence that this is true, and the only source of this is a county police department (if not a hoaxer) that apparently thinks that this is a "new phenomenon", which it is not.

All sources point toward Pedobear being an inside joke for 4channers that, like many things from 4chan, has been misunderstood (probably justifiably) once exposed to the real world.

Is the LE community sitting on evidence that backs up their claim that this character is some secret code for pedophiles? Maybe, but I don't exactly see the point of it, especially when they tried to present pretty weak evidence of some guy obviously exploiting the joke at Comic Con (and FWIW, the character is actually a manga character...).

You're right in some sense. It certainly is possible that somewhere out there, some pedophile has tried to contact another pedophile using the character. But that fact alone doesn't justify the claim that people need to worry about this any more than they need to worry when they see a cargo van driving down their neighborhood. I suppose I can't argue against information that the LE community would find some need to sit on (like some specific case where Pedobear was proven to be a method of communication rather than just a joke). But based both on the information they provided, the information from 4chan and other sources, and my own personal knowledge of the joke for about 4 years now, the claim that Pedobear is a sign of real pedophilic intent is as ridiculous as... well...

"Vets warn against burying cats after only their first death, cite eight other possible lives."
"Police fear Boogieman attack after Jim Snuffy's refusal to brush teeth."
"Doctors still baffled in finding the cure for mysterious "Cooties" epidemic."

I'm still waiting for someone to unveil that this is a hoax. This is EXACTLY the sort of thing that /b/ would do when they get bored.

[RiverAux]

4chann?

[HGjunkie]

4chann?

WARNING! PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK! I AM NOT LIABLE FOR ANY EMOTIONAL TRAUMA YOU EXPERIENCE BY LOOKING AT THIS SITE.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

[A.Member]

4chann?

It's '4chan'....Google and Wiki are your friends:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4chan

[vento]

Cadet HGjunkie, beware that there are younger cadets on this board. Mind the content regardless of the warning.

[RiverAux]

Sorry I asked.

[Nathan]

Cadet HGjunkie, beware that there are younger cadets on this board. Mind the content regardless of the warning.

Yeah, let's not link to 4chan here. No disclaimer is going to cut it. I don't think anyone here is endorsing the site. Discussing it is an unfortunate side-effect of the debate. It pretty much spits in the face of every value CAP endorses.

[Johnny Yuma]

Best explanation of pedo bear without the hysteria:

http://www.urlesque.com/2009/11/06/pedobear/

[Майор Хаткевич]

4chann?

It's '4chan'....Google and Wiki are your friends:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4chan

/b/ in particular (the "Random" section on the image board) is where the issues arise), is the source of all this...drama?

/b/ actions have ranged from getting a Serbian girl arrested for throwing puppies in a river, to invading browser games, usually followed by the /b/ombing of game forums with images including "goatse" (don't look this up!), mutilation, and CP. This usually causes admins to bring forums down in order to strengthen sign up security, removing the vile images, and establishing limitations on new poster privileges.  They also love to DDOS forums/websites.

That said, most people are "lurkers" and neither post on /b/, nor partake in their worst antics. Most browse for the fun Internet Memes that seem to originate on there (like IHazCheesburger *allegedly*).

[Short Field]

If you have nothing useful to add to a conversation -then say it in a really big red font.

[Майор Хаткевич]

If you have nothing useful to add to a conversation -then say it in a really big red font.

It was a response to a question. Though nothing was contributed, at the very least information was shared.

[Майор Хаткевич]

here is a news story about this release. http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1941325

[Johnny Yuma]

THIS JUST IN...

The FBI just released surveillance video of the master mind who created pedobear http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTJGkwMf08k&feature=related

It's only 30 years late

[Keydet2010]

FlyingPig & Smokey:
  Thank you so much for posting this information.  It may be "old news" to many people, but this is the first time I have ever heard of it.  I am sure there are a lot of Senior Members out there like me who work primarily with Cadets, but we are totally naive and ignorant about things of this nature.

. . .
   Please continue to disseminate any information that can help us better protect our Cadets, it is appreciated.

No offense to you, but I believe this is a dangerous mentality to have when dealing with predatory offenders such as rapists and pedophiles. With the wealth of information available to you on the internet, I believe you have an obligation to make yourself aware of the issues affecting said Cadets; in this particular case, being aware of the methods and psychology of sexual offenders. To otherwise is inexcusable in my book, as it places those Cadets in an undue amount of danger.


As for the original story, I find it laughable how far off the mark the law enforcement agencies are with this. A quick google search would have returned a dozen articles discussing the history of pedobear, such as this.

[Custer]

Pedobear has been a meme on /b/ for about 3-4 years or so. I'm surprised this is just now being released.

Pedobear was on F-chan well over a decade ago.

[raivo]

Pedobear has about as much to do with real child abuse as Carmen Sandiego does with actual larceny.

Also, out of all the Internet venues I frequent, this is the ONLY ONE where everyone's *not* laughing uproariously at the LE bulletin.

[Johnny Yuma]

The DOJ's and general LE reaction to all this is all too typical: They're the last to know, so they need to overreact to compensate.

[Nathan]

Just to state it again, no one is ridiculing the immediate reaction to the perceived threat. Nor am I, at least, bagging on LE guys who didn't immediately bite at the idea that the threat may not be a threat just cause we say so.

It's more just the people who are too worried about saving face to at least admit that they may be overreacting to something that may not actually BE a threat. I personally am a wee concerned that people who may have purchased these products may be unfairly labeled as pedophiles just because LE guys misinterpreted the significantly more vast use of the character as a joke to mock pedophiles as something else.

It's a lot like a witch hunt. There may have been a couple of people accused who actually tried practicing witchcraft, but the evidence consisted of mainly hunches, opinions, and misinterpretations. I'm not worried about legal fallout, but social fallout is a definite.

[RiverAux]

I really have a hard time deciding what to think about this (an uncommon situation for me).  My first impression that this was actually one of those crazy internet rumors or virus warnings that you get passed around in emails from some of the more unsophisticated internet users. 

But, lets say that this is a real current threat.  That being the case, from a CAP perspective I'd say that I'm not too worried about it.  Given the age of our cadets, I'm not concerned that a pedophile wearing something with one of these symbols would get very far with them.  I think most are smart enough to really wonder about a grown man wearing such a shirt and would most likely stay as far away as they could.  Maybe if our cadets were much, much younger.

Similarly, I would probably be very suspicious of a prospective male senior member wearing such a shirt with or without this warning from LE.  Thats just not normal behavior.  They would probably be informed about the background check a lot earlier in the conversation than normal. 

[Майор Хаткевич]

We have more chance of an 18 year old cadet going to jail for dating a 15 year old than we do of pedo bear pedos trying to join up.

[raivo]

There's a similar incident that comes to mind where someone started a Internet rumor on a now-defunct juvenile-delinquent-forum called TOTSE that you could get high on fermented... uh... sewage. Well, the Internet is great at spreading rumors, and next thing you know LE agencies are putting out bulletins warning parents about "the new drug craze." (Now I'm sure SOMEBODY was dumb enough to try it, especially given the intelligence level of the average TOTSE user, but...)

http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/jenkem.asp

But, yeah, Pedobear is one of those things you just aren't going to get unless you understand Internet culture.

[Krapenhoeffer]

Okay, so, here is Internet Memetics 101:

Suffice it to say that there is a subculture on the internet known as "Anonymous"

Anonymous is an entity that could only exist on the internet. Basically, it came from the realization that if you don't use your name, everything you do on the internet is anonymous.

The first thing that one should know about Anonymous as a whole, is that it has a very dark and ironic sense of humor. This humor is called "lulz."

Up until a few short years ago, the hub of Anonymous in the English-speaking world was an imageboard website called "4chan"

This website was made up of various boards, the most notorious of them being the Random board (sometimes called /b/ due to the URL for the board).

The rules for this particular board are "ZOMG NONE!!!1", which is internet 1337 (derived from "elite) slang for "Oh my God, none!!!"

As a result, actual pedophiles would post illegal images on this board, which the sarcastic posters of /b/ would respond with the image of Pedobear.

Pedobear came from the Japanese Futaba Channel (home of Anonymous culture in Japan), where it was called "Safety Bear."

In 2006, a sort of war broke out between Anonymous and the administrators of 4chan, due to a new policy which banned "raids" (cyber attacks carried out by Anonymous, of debatable legality) from being organized on /b/. It was in this same policy that 4chan decided to not allow illegal content to be posted.

After that, Anonymous dispersed to various other websites. Anonymous also created the "Rick Roll" meme, that I'm sure most of some of you have been the victims of, and LOLcats.

Pedobear is a means of satirizing and mocking pedophilia, at least in the minds of Anonymous.

Anonymous also like sneaking crap past the radar, and so anytime one of their memes gets mentioned in the real world, they find it hilarious (epic lulz, as they would put it).

I do not believe that the Pedobear threat is much of a threat.

[a2capt]

I fathom to guess  that .. the only real attraction with this character and all this other behavior is the character name in the first place, and for all anyone knows it only got started because it was all a gag due to the name in the first place.

An awful lot of Japanese nick/proper naming when using Western World words is done without any regard to the meaning, or perceived meaning of the word, or group of words in the first place.

[TyKButton]

Pedo-bear is simply another /b/tard's sick sense of humor at work. As a Criminal Justice Student, we talked about this in class and even the Professor was laughing about it. I would be far less worried about some guy at a comic convention wearing a pedo-bear shirt compared to a person staring at kids at a park. Pedo-bear is simply a sick joke, nothing more, nothing less.

[Flying Pig]

^ Ahh, advice from a Crim student. Out of curiosity, what is your professors background?

[davidsinn]

^ Ahh, advice from a Crim student. Out of curiosity, what is your professors background?

Have you tried googling "pedobear tshirt"? Look at how many places sell those things.

Can you honestly tell me that this is valid after seeing that? If the bad guys are using these things to identify each other(a claim I do not believe for a minute) the signal to noise ratio would be huge for them which would risk exposing themselves by mistake and for you, the LEO, trying to use it against them but wasting resources chasing false positives.

[Thom]

Even though I work with and among law enforcement (as a non-sworn individual) I have to say, sometimes they just can't seem to understand reality.

I'm going to lay it out for everyone, including our LEOs:

Saying that you should be careful of people wearing PedoBear emblems because they might be Pedophiles, is exactly as ludicrous as saying that you can expect sworn and armed backup from every person or vehicle bearing a 'Thin Blue Line' sticker.  In the exact same way that those stickers/plates which originally identified LEOs and (sometimes) their families, have become so common as to make them useless as an identifier, the PedoBear image has likewise become so widespread that any possible original use in identifying Pedophiles (if there ever was any at all...) has been lost.

I can understand the drive to 'make every effort' and 'never overlook possible clues' but really, at some point the False Positive rate makes it a losing proposition.  I would also note that this 'intelligence' came out of one Sheriff's Office, not from the FBI, CBI, or even the NCMEC (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.) I would hope we can all agree it was earnestly meant in the best way, but ultimately was incorrect intelligence.  It would hardly be the first time that was distributed in the LE community.


Thom

[TyKButton]

^ Ahh, advice from a Crim student. Out of curiosity, what is your professors background?

Well, both my professors talked about it, but the one I was referring to has 10 years experience as a LEO with a County Sherrifs Dept, and then worked with Parole and Probation in the state. He also is a Major in the National Guard. Hes a pretty cool professor I have to say

[Senior]

Flying Pig, thank you for the information about the Pedo Bear Cartoon. :clap:

I am truly amazed and bewildered when LEO are informing the public
about a potential hazard to children/cadets and those intrusted to
protect those same cadets laugh it off as a bad joke.

I have a friend that was abused as a child and I don't think that
person would laugh at this "bad joke".  I would ask those that see
this as "dark humor" to consider their own character and integrity.
Sure morons and scumbags can say and do a lot of things because
they have the freedom of speech, but is it beneficial to themselves or
society as a whole?  So maybe somebody should stand up and say
pedophiles are useless piles of crap.  No joking or humor can make
child abuse funny.

[raivo]

I am truly amazed and bewildered when LEO are informing the public
about a potential hazard to children/cadets and those intrusted to
protect those same cadets laugh it off as a bad joke.

That would be because we have some actual understanding of the subject matter, and the SLO County Sheriff's office (which is where this originated) hasn't convinced me that they do.

[Майор Хаткевич]

I am truly amazed and bewildered when LEO are informing the public
about a potential hazard to children/cadets and those intrusted to
protect those same cadets laugh it off as a bad joke.

That would be because we have some actual understanding of the subject matter, and the SLO County Sheriff's office (which is where this originated) hasn't convinced me that they do.

^^^

I bet this Sheriff still has a pager and thinks unlimited texting is the newest cool thing.

[HGjunkie]

I am truly amazed and bewildered when LEO are informing the public
about a potential hazard to children/cadets and those intrusted to
protect those same cadets laugh it off as a bad joke.

That would be because we have some actual understanding of the subject matter, and the SLO County Sheriff's office (which is where this originated) hasn't convinced me that they do.

^^^

I bet this Sheriff still has a pager and thinks unlimited texting is the newest cool thing.

I'll bet five bucks you're right USAFaux.

[Krapenhoeffer]

See... I'm a skeptic. And very often we deal with the idea that Badge + Gun = Instant Expert On Everything.

This is a huge burden that we skeptics have to overcome when dealing with stories about the occult and aliens and every other thing that goes bump in the night.

First Rule: Extraordinary Claims Require Extraordinary Evidence. Frankly, all I see is an easily debunk-able and laughable story.

This whole thing is a giant prank on the real world by the bowels of the internet. Pedobear has been around for a good long time.

Now, let's go back to our good ol' CPPT: CPPT (based on statistics and facts) tell us that the vast majority of child molesters know their victims.

And frankly, I doubt that people engaging in an act which is considered not only taboo, but tantamount to murder would wear an easily recognizable badge.

Pedophile gangs don't exist. Internet gangs of people who want to offend others for the sake of humor do. And from the looks of it, they're winning.

You're giving them their Lulz. And Lulz is like giving a dog food. It will crave more.

[HGjunkie]

When you feed a troll, god kills a kitten.
Please, think of the kittens.

[SarDragon]

Tick-tock. Tick-tock. Tick-tock.

[HGjunkie]

Hey Pylon, I think you should lock the thread again. Why did you unlock it in the first place?

[a2capt]

Yeah- I thought it was locked.. must have been a discussion behind the scenes amounting to "no, we're serious"..

I still say, the name did the character in, just like that. It's future was cast in stone. The Pac-Man people thought ahead.. (read about the name of Pac-Man in Japan, where it was invented) ..

Ah well..

[manfredvonrichthofen]

It doesn't matter how old outdated how outlandish this might really be. If you do not take things of this nature seriously you need to take a step back and retake CCPT and have a bit longer discussion about what CPPT really is. It is to protect all cadets from ALL potential threats. No matter how dumb this may look or sound, if this Pedo Bear thing is real and you dismiss it because a website calls it a joke, then you need to stop paying attention to websites that call what LE says is a threat a joke. There is nothing funny about the topic.

[Майор Хаткевич]

It doesn't matter how old outdated how outlandish this might really be. If you do not take things of this nature seriously you need to take a step back and retake CCPT and have a bit longer discussion about what CPPT really is. It is to protect all cadets from ALL potential threats. No matter how dumb this may look or sound, if this Pedo Bear thing is real and you dismiss it because a website calls it a joke, then you need to stop paying attention to websites that call what LE says is a threat a joke. There is nothing funny about the topic.

So we should listen to what all LEs spew? What about that State Rep in my state that said the school teachers union is the worst gang, after listing off the Gangster Disciples, the Cribs, the Bloods, etc? Is he correct as well?

The Sheriff needs a clue, that's it.

[manfredvonrichthofen]

The Cribs? You mean the Crips. sounds like you SHOULD be listening to what they "spew" maybe you would get one of the 1990's most dangerous gangs name right.

[Майор Хаткевич]

The Cribs? You mean the Crips. sounds like you SHOULD be listening to what they "spew" maybe you would get one of the 1990's most dangerous gangs name right.

Yea, sorry that my Droid X won't recognize the difference and switched it out. I'll get on that with Motorola and let them know their text vocab sucks. 

[SarDragon]

Tick-tock. Tick-tock. Tick-tock.

[Krapenhoeffer]

"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof." -Carl Sagan

A rambling by USDOJ or some County Sheriff's department doesn't cut it.

Nature of proof here is a repeated string of convictions in which perpetrators were known to use Pedobear as a symbol.

Without that, I have to throw the BS flag out. And no, I do not mean Bachelor of Science.

Badge + Gun =/= Expert

[manfredvonrichthofen]

The Cribs? You mean the Crips. sounds like you SHOULD be listening to what they "spew" maybe you would get one of the 1990's most dangerous gangs name right.

Yea, sorry that my Droid X won't recognize the difference and switched it out. I'll get on that with Motorola and let them know their text vocab sucks.

Roger that. Knowing it is a spell check error I'll take that back.

[SarDragon]