“If you look good, you feel good,” said Sergeant Jimmy Fortner. Last week the jail rolled out new uniforms that will allow Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) detention deputies to perform their jobs better – and look sharp while doing it.

Lieutenant Bronson Taylor said the plan had been in the works for a while now. “In 2023, Assistant Chief Deputy Paul Carey (who at that time was the jail’s colonel) formed a Department of Detention and Corrections (DDC) workgroup committee, and the new uniforms came out of that. This was something that many DDC members had long wanted to change.”

Sheriff Bob Gualtieri pays attention to what PCSO employees need to do their jobs well. Staff Inspections visits each area of the agency every four years to, among other things, hear members’ recommendations about what could be improved. One of the top requests in the jail was for a uniform change. For a lot of PCSO’s history, deputies in both patrol and in the jail wore bright white shirts. Though some liked the look of them, they were impractical, and patrol deputies switched to spruce green in 2014. The jail kept the white shirts until now.

“The white shirts got dirty very quickly in this environment,” said Lieutenant Taylor. “In an area like receiving, for example, where they’re hands-on with inmates, patting them down, going through their property, they were likely to get dirty quickly. And over time the white shirts would get permanently dingy and stained.”

The new uniforms are all black. The shirts combine style with practicality. Deputies have to look put-together, commanding immediate respect wherever they go, so their uniform shirts have a clean, tailored look. The embroidered star on the chest and rank stripes on the sleeves show in vivid relief against the black, and the deputy’s name is easy to read. In addition to being very professional looking, the shirts are more comfortable than the previous ones.

“The fabric is much nicer, lighter weight than the old ones, which were thick and stiff,” said Sergeant Michelle Mobley. “I like that they’re a more fitted style – more tailored, less bulky. You can move better in these.” The shirts are paired with BDU-style pants that are lighter and thinner than the previous style, with enough give to allow for easy movement, and the many pockets a detention deputy needs.

In another first, deputies now have the option of long sleeves or short sleeves. The jail tends to be cold, and the long sleeves provide both warmth and a physical barrier against contaminants. Deputies are issued five shirts in any combination of short or long sleeves. 

While the badge, nametag, and pins on a patrol deputy’s shirt are metal and go through the shirts, pinned to the back with a metal clasp, the decorations on a detention deputy’s shirt are all embroidered. That’s a security consideration, so inmates can’t get contraband if any of those things fall off the uniform.

The logistics of getting every detention deputy outfitted was complicated. “It’s been a task getting them out to everybody,” said Lieutenant Taylor. “The shift commanders and division commanders have all been fantastic about communicating with me and making sure everybody got the right size. But the real champion of all this has been the Purchasing Division.”

Purchasing Manager Eric Vincent said that his team embroidered 2,942 shirts for this rollout. “We’re hoping the new black shirts will have a longer life before they need to be replaced,” Vincent said. “Even if someone took really good care of the white shirts, you can only bleach it so many times before it breaks down. These new ones will be a lot easier to maintain.” The fabric is even stain resistant.

What’s next for Purchasing now that the initial jail uniform change is completed? “We went right from DDC to the crossing guards,” Vincent said. “They’re all getting updated uniforms next.”

A parent always imagines the worst – what parent hasn’t feared that their child could be kidnapped on the way home from school, or attacked by a stranger? We teach them personal safety even though crimes like that are very rare. But many parents don’t think to give their kids the skills and knowledge to protect themselves from a much more common type of crime that can traumatize a child. Not all child sexual abuse happens in person or involves physical contact. Online sexual exploitation of minors is increasing, and kids need to know about the dangers of online interactions.

One in three minors ages 9 to 17 have reported having a sexual interaction online. Of those, 28 percent have had an interaction with someone they believe to be an adult. Online sexual interactions can include explicit or suggestive text messaging, requests for photos, or sharing of photos.

Young people are learning to navigate a complicated online world. Social media and other platforms that allow for connection and communication, such as messaging apps and online games, can help kids find friends and inspiration. Kids can meet other kids from all around the world who share their hobbies and interests. The anonymity of the online world often gives young people the freedom to express themselves they might not feel in in-person settings. But that anonymity means that young people don’t always know who they are talking to, and they can become victims of predators. They may develop a friendship with someone they believe is a child, but they are actually talking to a predatory adult. 

The minor might send self-generated child sexual abuse material (SG-CSAM), thinking they are sharing it with another minor. It is against the law for a minor to send nude images to another minor, or to have nude images of another minor in their possession, whether all parties consent or not. Even consensually shared SG-CSAM between minors puts kids at risk of social and mental health concerns, as well as the possibility of non-consensual sharing later. The first offense is a noncriminal violation, and the child must either appear in juvenile court, perform community service, pay a fine, participate in a cyber safety program, or a combination of these. A second offense is a misdemeanor, and the third is a felony. Minors sharing pictures with minors is bad enough, but what if an adult persuades, coerces, or tricks a child into sending a nude photo or explicit video?

Once a child sends an adult a nude photo or video, the adult may use possession of that material to force the child to do other things – a crime known as sextortion. They may threaten to share or publish the material, or tell the child’s parents, unless they do what the predator says. They may force the child to give them money, or produce more SG-CSAM, or meet with them in person to be physically abused. Children may be ashamed, or too afraid to tell a parent or law enforcement, and that puts them in the predator’s power.

Once a child’s image is online, they are often not just a victim once but hundreds or thousands of times – every time that image is shared. Perpetrators often have networks with other predators in which they share images they have collected, until the child’s image is spread worldwide, passed around for years. 

Crimes evolve and change depending on the technology available. Once, child sexual abuse material was mostly circulated in person or through the mail, but the advent of the internet gave predators an increased ability to share images, form networks, and find and manipulate victims. The rise of artificial intelligence has led to entirely new forms of victimization. A predator can use AI to create new images of a child (or adult victim) using existing photos of them, putting them in different scenarios or settings so that one nude photo can become thousands of different ones. There are also “nudifying” apps that can take a clothed image and generate an artificial nude from it. The more AI improves, the more realistic these deepfake images become. A person who has never shared a nude image can now be threatened with sextortion. No matter who took the photo, or even if a nonsexual image was manipulated to be sexual, creating, transmitting, or possessing any child sexual material is against the law. The law covers any image that has been “created, altered, adapted, or modified by electronic, mechanical, or other means to portray an identifiable minor engaged in sexual conduct.” 

Here are some tips for helping your children stay safer online:

• Consider not allowing your child to have unsupervised use of a phone when they are younger. Use parental controls to block unapproved sites and apps, and to monitor your child’s activity online. Check their online history. 
• Teach kids about boundaries, in person and online. Teach them that it is okay to say no, to block someone, or to report them to a parent or other trusted adult, as well as to a moderator or to the app. Encourage them to set all social media and other apps to private so only trusted people can see their content or communicate with them.
• Remind young people that someone they trust now may not always be so trustworthy. Relationships change, and a person in possession of nude images might maliciously share them later. 
• Make sure kids know to never give personal information online. This will help them protect themselves from many kinds of predators and scammers. 
• Talk to your kids about the dangers of sexting, sexual predators online, and the laws involving sexual images of minors. Have these conversations several times, at different ages. Be open and approachable so your children will feel comfortable talking with you if there is ever a problem. Sharing a nude image or being victimized can make a child feel ashamed and alone. They need to know you will always be there to help them.

A minor victim or anyone who knows or suspects there is a minor victim can report it to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children CyberTipline. You can report images, sextortion, an adult having a sexual conversation with a child online, or any form of child exploitation.

Parents are alert when it comes to who their child spends time with. They would know if the child had an adult physically in their bedroom. But if their child is online in the privacy of their own room, they could be interacting with anyone. Parents need to know what their kids are doing online, and teach them the skills to keep themselves safe from predators.