Chief Birbeck: child abuse and neglect cases are up

Olney Police Chief Dan Birbeck provided status updates on his management plan since accepting the position in July 2020. With a positive six-month review under his belt, he said he is ready to move forward with the implementation of other goals. With a staff of five full-time officers, he should excel in his role as chief.

“With a fully staffed department, we will be able to spend more time following up on and investigating cases. We currently have approximately 15 active cases,” said Birbeck noting that seven of the 15 active cases involve offenses against children.

Birbeck said he does not know if the recent influx of child abuse cases has anything to do with children who have been quarantined due to COVID. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a recent report stating a nationwide increase in child abuse and neglect is related to “heightened stress, school closures, loss of income and social isolation resulting from the pandemic.”

“We have had a huge influx of offenses against children recently. We’ve done quite a few forensic interviews in the last couple of months—up to five in one week, which is not common for an agency that is our size,” Birbeck said.

Some of the cases the Olney Police Department (OPD) are dealing with involve both family abuse and social media predators. Birbeck said regarding social media, the cases arise due to neglectful supervision. It has been more than he would have ever anticipated. He said they use the resources they have and other agencies resources to investigate these crimes.

Birbeck offers advice to parents about how to protect their children from predators.

“The first thing for a parent to do is to monitor what your children are doing online. We have seen alarming access to different websites that predators use to target children. Most schools have software that helps monitor children on the school’s computers. It is the home computers that are carte blanche, allowing children to go anywhere on the internet,” Birbeck said. “The biggest thing is to pay attention to what your children are doing.”

Although OPD does not have a dedicated task force for crimes against children, Chief Birbeck said these cases remain a top priority. The officers are happy to talk to parents any time they suspect that their child is a victim of abuse.

“We also have resources out of Graham that we recommend, such as the Virginia’s House, which has been a huge asset. They assist us with our child abuse cases. When dealing with children, you must be particularly careful with how you handle them, and you don’t want to revictimize them. So, we work closely with the Virginia’s House and with child protective services to make sure nothing falls through the cracks,” Birbeck said.

If you suspect child abuse or neglect, contact Olney Police Department at 940-564-5550.