Pubdate: Tue, 12 Sep 2000
Source: Chicago Sun-Times (IL)
Copyright: 2000 The Sun-Times Co.
Contact:  401 N. Wabash, Chicago IL 60611
Feedback: http://www.suntimes.com/geninfo/feedback.html
Website: http://www.suntimes.com/
Author: Carlos Sadovi
Related: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n739/a05.html

SEX, DRUG LINKS ON COP SITE

Want to get some tips on growing marijuana, look at pictures of scantily
clad women or even play some violent video games on the Internet?

You could start at the Berwyn Police Department's Web page.

The west suburban police department's Web site, which was set up last year,
includes some links that are embarrassing the department.

At BerwynIl.com the first page that comes up is the Berwyn Police
Department, Neighborhood Watch and a Berwyn Police Explorer site.

But click on "More Sites Like This"--which runs across the top of the page
in a banner advertisement from the host company, fortunecity.com--and some
surprises show up.

In only a few clicks of a mouse, someone can call up Web pages containing
nudity, advice on growing marijuana and computer hacking. Other pages show
pictures of machine guns and give lessons on how to sneak up on targets and
shoot.

Some linked pages contain several violent video games based on stealing cars
and the drug trade.

The links came to light recently after the department advertised its Web
site on the Berwyn Neighborhood Watch newsletter.

The newsletter trumpeted the three sub-sites, including the Neighborhood
Watch site, a Berwyn police site and a Berwyn Police Explorer site for
youngsters interested in policing.

Jack Wolowiec, president of the Berwyn Homeowners Association, expressed
outrage and said the links bring people to questionable places on the
Internet.

"If I found this stuff in just a few minutes of poking around, just imagine
how easy it must be for a 13-year-old kid," Wolowiec said.

Berwyn police officials said they were unaware of the questionable links and
said they will contact fortunecity.com to see if they can cut the links to
the sites, said Berwyn's Public Safety Director Frank Marzullo.

"I'm going to find out how that can be eliminated. There's no way we can
condone that," said Marzullo. "Obviously that's one of the things you have
to put up with on the Internet. Everything is inter-linked one way or the
other."

The site offers many positive and informative services to residents, and
doing away with the Internet page is not an option, he said.

"It's important for us to make sure our people can access that information,"
said Marzullo.

Fortunecity.com officials in New York said they offer free service in
exchange for allowing an advertising banner to show up. The advertisement
banner pays for the service and links to other sites, said Lauren Sklar, a
spokeswoman.

As part of the free service, the department may have no choice other than
setting up another Web site, said Sklar. The site is subject to the same
terms and conditions as any other site that was established through
fortunecity.com, Sklar said.

She denied there were any links to pornography.

"There's some more adult content but nothing that says pornography and
tasteless images," she said.

The links appearing above the Berwyn police Web page and others direct
people to the company's most popular Web pages, said Sklar. In addition to
the more risque sites, other pages include a Pokemon page, a page featuring
actor Tom Cruise and a page of song lyrics.
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MAP posted-by: Don Beck