Education and Law Enforcement Coalition Takes Aim at Cyberbullying

Bullying, cyberbullying and crime are inextricably linked, according to the members of the East Metro Crime Prevention Coalition, which took aim at the topic during an April 10 forum in Stillwater.

The coalition, formed last year, includes the Ramsey, Dakota and Washington Sheriffs and County Attorneys Offices. The coalition's purpose is to address community issues with unified prevention, law enforcement and education strategies, according to a news release issued by the organization.

The April forum was an opportunity for officials to dialogue about bullying, cyberbullying and sexting in schools, with attendees drawing a clear connection between those issues and other significant criminal problems.

"The connection between bullies and crime is a clear one. The most serious bullies are seven times more likely to carry a weapon to school and almost sixty percent of boys who were bullies in grades six through nine were convicted of at least one crime by age 24. Even more alarming is that forty percent of bullies have three or more criminal convictions by age 24," Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom said in a news release.

Ultimately, the coalition hopes to develop targeted solutions as it gathers resources and dialogues with stakeholders in communities across the east metro area.

"Bullying prevention is crime prevention. It is our hope that a unified and integrated approach will make a real dent not only in the crime rates in our communities but also in the hopelessness that bullying and cyberbullying breeds," Ramsey County Attorney John Choi added.