New cyberbully law difficult to enforce

WIVB.com

Ed Drantch

Updated: Feb 17, 2012 6:12 PM

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Erie County is one step closer to banning cyber bullying. The county legislature has approved a law that would make electronic harassment a misdemeanor. But how will this ban be enforced?

Legislator Ed Rath, serving Amherst, was at the forefront of the bill's passage that makes it a crime to repeatedly post messages of harassment online - something that could harm a minor's mental health.

"Kids are falling prey to people harassing them through Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. This local law makes it illegal for people to now use social media as a predatory and harassment device," Rath said.

The law was passed months after 14-year-old Jamey Rodemeyer took his own life as a result of persistent bullying both in school and online. The cyberbullying legislation took months to become law. It went back to the legislature at least three times. Now that it is law, police in Amherst say it could be tough to enforce.

Cathy Onions is the Safety Education Officer with the Amherst Police Department. She says the burden of proof is on police.

"It enables us to lay charges if somebody posts something inappropriate or along the lines of bullying, but we have to prove who actually put it on the web page," Onions said.

She added, "It's very difficult. We may be able to trace it to a home, we may have an idea of who it is, but unless we have a witness or they admit to doing it, it'll be difficult to charge."

But Rath said, "We're not trying to criminalize this behavior for our youths. What we're trying to do is make sure that this law acts as a viable and necessary deterrent so it never happens again."

The law is one more resource police have to use when stopping bullying. But, realistically, they will not be prosecuting each and every instance of online harassment. Police say it's up to parents to monitor children, talking to them about appropriate behavior online.

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