SNIFFING OUT PREDATORS: Police Chief Richard Friend of Shannon Hills

I’ve expressed previously some skepticism about the immense amount of time devoted by the North Little Rock police to posing as jailbait on the Internet to lure the attention of potential sex offenders around the world.

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Now I learn that that crime-fighting colossus — the Shannon Hills police department — is similarly waging war against Internet predators. Nuts. And a little weird. The police chief, Richard Friend, defends:

Friend said he justifies spending his small department’s limited resources on Internet sex stings because it prevents suspects from finding real children online.

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“When I tied him up for 13 months, that was one less kid he could show those things to,” Friend said.

It also tied up Shannon Hills police for 13 months with naughty talk with a sailor in Washington when, presumably, there might have been some pressing business closer to the station house. The force is depicted below.

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