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Dateline's To Catch a Predator: Helpful service or illegal entrapment?

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Illegal		28%	127 votes	Total: 457 votes
Helpful		72%	330 votes	Total: 457 votes

Illegal

1 of 11

by JTurner

I'm not sure that Dateline's To Catch a Predator program is illegal, but let me tell you about why it's annoying.

There's a lot of crap on TV that I am willing to watch. Some shows I really look forward to each week, but if I'm feeling bored enough, curious enough, or vindictive enough, I'll watch just about anything. I do have boundaries though. I refuse to watch talk shows that announce lie detector results and/or babies daddy's, I won't watch high school dramas, starring 24-year-olds, and I can't stand watching Dateline's To Catch a Predator' series.

Generally speaking, I've been a longtime Dateline fan. It's one of the most entertaining shows on non-cable television, featuring news elements, medical discoveries, scientific breakthroughs and compelling social experiments. I especially like to watch the murder mysteries, but after years of observation, I've learned there are three elements you can always count on. First-the killer is never who you think it is at the start of the show, second-either the victim or their spouse will always have a secret lover and or a hidden past (involving drugs or pornography), and third-the spouse is almost always the killer, even if they seem like a really nice person.

I want like the show but I just can't. Even though shows like Dateline have a long track record of ambushing people on camera, To Catch a Predator' reaches new levels of absurdity. It's biased, partial, unfair, and really not much different than hidden camera shows like Punked.' The biggest difference between Punked' and To Catch a Predator' is that Punked' people know their being ridiculous, while To Catch a Predator' operates under the guise of investigative journalism. If Chris Hansen dressed up like a circus clown or yelled surprise' when he came out, the show would seem much more credible than when he pretends to be a journalist busting all those pedophiles from Ohio.

The amount of time and energy that goes into these shows is mind boggling. Imagine if we could mobilize the government to get things done the way Chris Hansen does. The show spends hundreds of hours baiting stupid men into chatting with their decoys, which has to be incredibly interesting work. Most people get fired for sending and receiving dirty emails at work, but what if it's you job? Professional sexy decoys are supposed to send sexually explicit emails all day long. What kind of training do you give a sexy decoy; an anatomy test, creative writing exercises? And what kind of bonus incentives do you get? A dollar for every reference you make to penises?

Once the predators' arrive at the house, usually armed with condoms and alcohol, they run into Chris Hansen within a matter of seconds. To which, there are two responses. The first response is remorse. The guy sits down and hangs his head in shame, apologizing and insisting he wasn't really there for sex. But the second response is fear; and in those situations the men run outside as fast as their chubby, unexercised, little legs will carry them. In either case, they will be tackled by several dozen police officers with weapons, wearing riot gear, which I'm sure is standard procedure when ambushing a defenseless man, who was expecting to meet a girl, carrying a bottle of lube.

The problem is that To Catch a Predator' isn't really catching predators. Real pedophiles cant' possibly be as stupid as the men who appear on the show. They'd have to be much more clever and familiar with safe' Internet practices, if they're going to continue doing what they do. It would be like trying to catch a bank robber by painting an X on the floor, then placing a bag with a dollar sign on top of it, and hoping they wouldn't notice the giant cargo net hanging from the ceiling.

My guess is that real predators, including pedophiles, are proactive. They seek out victims and pursue them on a regular basis. They are intentional and aggressive, and they are not the guys sitting at home, being solicited by graphic sexual emails from a sexy decoy with a pension. If they weren't being provoked, chances are their lustful pursuits might just result in a trip to the video store, and not a chance encounter with a strange teenage girl. To Catch a Predator' is a recipe for disaster, like poking a bear with a stick, or having an open casting call for American Idol at a karaoke bar.

But capturing pedophiles is good TV. I can't say why, but apparently people like to watch other people get busted for trying to get sex. But don't be mislead, To Catch a Predator' is not an altruistic endeavor, if people weren't watching it would be off the air faster than you can say Megan Mullally. And if Chris Hansen were really interested in preventing crime, he would slap on a bullet proof vest and join the FBI, instead of smugly ambushing people on camera, as if he were Woodward and Bernstein.

For some reason, To Catch a Predator' is more popular than ever. It's on pace to overtake Law & Order' and CSI' as the most over-aired show on television. And if they could just hire an army of decoys, To Catch a Predator' could get enough footage to be on five nights a week, and that's not even including reruns, or hilarious outtakes.

In the future, they could also diversify what kind of criminals they're targeting. Dateline recently started tracking down cyber thieves, which is commendable, but I also have some other ideas that could work. How about Dateline presents-How to Catch a jaywalker,' How to catch a driver with expired tags,' and How to Catch pet owners that leave poop on the ground because they don't bring a bag to pick it up.'

Regardless of what happens, you can be sure that if Chris Hansen shows up at your house, or that of your underage girlfriend, it's not a good thing. And be careful when you leave because there's probably a SWAT team waiting for you outside.

Learn more about this author, JTurner.
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Helpful

1 of 32

by Codi Moltrup

The Internet can be a wonderful thing. One can work and do research, play games, catch up with old friends and meet new ones from other states and countries from across the globe. Many sites such as MySpace, Facebook, Livejournal and Teen Matchmaker allow people young and old to get together, chat and have a good time.

Unfortunately, just as when you go out to the bars, clubs and even the shopping mall, there are those out there that seek to exploit this form of (what should be) fun. Like in real life, most people you meet on the Internet are good, honest hard-working men and women and fun-loving young kids who just want to relax after a long day at work or school and just have some fun. Yet there are those out there that prey on these individuals selfishly by luring them away from their safe-haven to exploit them.

Take Justin Williams, a 24-year-old Navy Officer. He had sworn an oath to protect our country by sea from those that wish to harm our citizens and destroy our freedoms as well as those of our allies. But he had broken this oath when he went online with full intentions on seducing a 14-year-old girl. They had talked and they agreed to meet up at her home. He actually had driven from his Rhode Island home to Connecticut, stopping along the way to buy condoms.

Fortunately, this was fully staged as that there was no real 14-year-old girl and officers were waiting at the home to arrest him. He is currently being held at a $100,000 bond. The purchase of the condoms had shown fully his intentions with what he had believed to be a minor.

He was not on Dateline's To Catch a Predator, but this is what the show is all about. They have specially trained people who join MySpace and various chat room programs. They do not single anyone out. The predators go to them. Like the children caught in these crimes, the impersonators go to these chat rooms looking for someone to show them what sex is all about. Real kids are naive, but extremely curious. That does not mean they should be exploited and shouldn't have to live with this for the rest of their lives, but these adult men and women predators do not care and are simply looking to fulfill their own selfish and sick desires.

They are not to be pitied. They walk into these traps by full will. There are many dating sites out there they could go to, as well as singles bars or perhaps they could get their friends to hook them up. They do not choose this. Instead, they go to these chat rooms looking for a cheap thrill.

"Predator's" staff works very hard to keep everything with the legal limits. Any consequences that follow are fully at the fault of the men and women caught on this show. I feel sorry for the families that they must witness it, but that should be taken up with the individual him/herself. But the majority of my sympathy is reserved for the poor kids that simply hadn't known what they were getting into.

MySpace is always working to protect the safety of their members, but they can't be held responsible for those that slip through the cracks. They do what they can, but some of these individuals are smart and know how to get around MySpace's protective features. The only thing they can do is play catch-up and close these holes as they're found. The parents also hold responsibility, but again, not entirely. What MySpace and the rest cannot cover, so the parents ought to assist. Keep up on what the kid does online. Monitor the messages and friend requests. Put in a password only you know so when she wants to get on, she'll have to ask you to put it in so you'll know when she's online so you'll have a heads-up. As an added bit, keep the page private so only friends can see. And remember the basic Internet rules: No personal information. Don't put up full name. Don't give out phone numbers. Nothing. Even pictures should be monitored or restricted from being put up altogether.

Be safe. Have fun and surf responsibly.

Source: http://www.wfsb.com/ news/15012608/detail .html

Learn more about this author, Codi Moltrup.
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