AUSTIN, Texas, March 16 (UPI) — Rep. Katherine Clark, D-MA, has announced a new bill that would dedicate millions of dollars to stopping or preventing harassment and stalking of women online.
The proposed bill is call the Cybercrime Enforcement Training Assistance Act and would train state and local law enforcement officers, as well as prosecutors and emergency dispatchers to better spot and prosecute cybercrimes.
It would also establish a cybercrime national resource center of technical know-how that law enforcement can utilize. And a $20 million annual federal grant would be created for the training and would partly pay for the extradition of cybercriminals between states.
Clark announced the proposal at this week’s SXSW Festival in Austin, Tx.
“The FBI … clearly told us this was not a priority for them and that was a sentiment we have found to be a theme,” Clark told The Verge this week.
Clark said she’s talked to women who received little to no support from law enforcement after having been the subject of online stalking. Clark believes she was threatened last month for her work in congress on the issue. Police were dispatched after an anonymous caller reported a shooting at her home.
“I didn’t need extra motivation, but it certainly provided that,” Clark told BuzzFeed.
