Internet Safety with Michael Arterburn of Killer Bee Tactical

Michael of Killer Bee Tactical

 

In this episode of The Secure Family Podcast, host Andy speaks with Michael Arterburn, a retired police officer who now runs Killer Bee Tactical. They discuss Michael’s extensive career, notably his seven years working on internet crimes against children.

 

Michael shares insights on the tactics used by predators, the importance of open communication, and the need for parental vigilance in the digital age. The episode also features Andy's new ebook, 'Level Up: The Parent 30 Minute Guide to Online Gaming Safety.'

 

For more from Michael Arterburn: https://killerbeetactical.org/

 

Level Up your parenting with my ebook about protecting your kids while gaming online.

https://www.thesecuredad.com/levelup 

Take control of your data with DeleteMe. Because they sponsor the podcast you can get 20% off a privacy plan from DeleteMe with promo code: DAD. 

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Episode Transcript

Andy (00:10):
This is The Secure Family Podcast.
Welcome friend.
I'm Andy Murphy, the host and alsothe founder of The Secure Dad.
This show is all about empowering parentsto protect themselves and their family.
I believe that security is thefoundation of happiness, and I want
your family to be happy and safe.
The information I share on this podcastis for general information purposes only.

(00:34):
My goal is to empower you tomake safer decisions for yourself
and your family, because oursafety is our own responsibility.
Today, I get to sit down with a retiredpolice officer who has had a storied
career putting away child predators.
He'll share his experience sowe know how to protect our kids.

(00:55):
All of that and more comingup on The Secure Family
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(01:19):
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(02:06):
Parents, it's time to levelup your online gaming safety.

My new ebook, Level Up (02:10):
The Parent 30 Minute Guide to Online Gaming Safety,
is now available at TheSecureDad.com.
In just 30 minutes, you'll learn how toprotect your kids from online dangers,
set up smart guidelines, and give them thefreedom to play without all of the worry.
In this new ebook, I'll give you a parentfriendly breakdown of the online gaming

(02:33):
world, you'll get a clearer understandingof why kids love gaming and how it
fits into their social lives, You'lllearn about the biggest threats, like
cyberbullying, inappropriate content,and online grooming, and of course, I
will show you how to deal with them.
I'll provide you with proven methodsto build trust and have meaningful
conversations with your child about gamingsafety, because I've done this all myself.

(02:56):
Plus, I'll share the red flags ofgrooming so that you can protect
your kids online and in real life.
And I will do all of this inthe time it takes you to watch
one of your favorite TV shows.
No fear mongering.
Just real solutions from a dad, a gamer,and of course, a family safety advocate.
Don't wait.
Grab your copy today at TheSecureDad.Com.

(03:18):
There's a link for you intoday's podcast show notes.
Chances are you've come acrosstoday's guest on social media.
Michael Arterburn is the manbehind Killer Bee Tactical.
He's built a strong followingby sharing real world knowledge
with a no nonsense approach.
He spent 23 years as a policeofficer, serving in critical roles
as a domestic violence detective,an internet crimes against children

(03:42):
detective, and even a bomb technician.
Now retired, he's traded in his badgefor beekeeping, though his commitment
to protecting others hasn't stopped.
During the pandemic, he launchedKiller Bee Tactical, a platform
dedicated to helping people become moreprepared, more capable, and more aware.
But most importantly, he's a dad.

(04:02):
Here's my conversationwith Michael Arterburn.
So Michael, thank you so muchfor taking time out of your
schedule to talk with me today.
Introduce yourself to everybody.

Michael (04:19):
Um, Michael Arterburn.
I was police officer for 23 years.
I worked in internet crimes againstchildren and domestic violence for
a pretty large portion of my career.
I started the Killer Bee Tactical.
Um, during the pandemic and it'sjust kind of taken off from there.

Andy (04:36):
Very cool.
And you just to kind of explainthe killer bee thing, you have
been a beekeeper before, right?
Is that it?

Michael (04:42):
I still am.
Yeah.
Um, I have 13 hives and it's what Iwas supposed to do when I retired.
Um, but it's kind of now my, my hobby.
And then this is kind of what I do now.

Andy (04:53):
Very cool.
So, uh, you, you went frompolice work to beekeeping.
You just like stress in your life.
Is that it?

Michael (04:59):
I guess so.

Andy (05:02):
So what, uh, what led you down the path to, uh, becoming, um, you know,
somebody involved with law enforcement?

Michael (05:08):
I wish I had a really cool story that was like, you know, I've
always wanted to be a police officerand I just like helping people.
And while those are true, um, I waspre med in college and uh, decided
being a doctor is not what I wantedto do and it's all I thought about.
And then I was like, now what do I do?
Um, and I was almostgetting ready to graduate.

(05:29):
So, um, a buddy of mine, I wasleaning toward something like
the FBI or the ATF going federal.
Um, And, uh, a buddy of mine was going to,uh, apply to a local police department,
uh, medium sized police department.
And he was like, you want to ride along?
And I'm like, man, I don'twant to be a police officer.
And, um, he's like, we'll justride with him and keep him company.

(05:51):
So I jumped in the car with him.
We go downtown and you know howgovernments are, there's like a, they
have certain days where they're handingout, uh, applications and all that.
Um, and it's, you fill out theform and, and, and go from there.
So I'm standing in line next to him.
And the lady hands me a form and I'm like,I've got it and she's like, just take it.
I'm like, yes, ma'am.

(06:11):
So I take it and I fill it outin a, with a golf pencil, not
thinking there's no way I'm goingto get, I'm not even going to try.
So make a long story longer, a yearlater, I get hired and he doesn't.
Oh, wow.
Yeah, he gets hired a year, ayear after me, but, um, it just
shows there's no rhyme or reasonon how they, how they hire people.

Andy (06:35):
Okay.
Well, that's cool that you,uh, you, you went to it.
And so when you first started,um, What were you doing?
What was your first responsibilities?

Michael (06:44):
I worked patrol, um, and I worked in a urban environment.
We worked a shooting a day.
Um, so we were, we were busy.
Um, and I loved it.
If, if I could have just stayedat work and they fed me, I
would have done it for free.
Um, and that was probably thefirst three years of my career.

Andy (07:03):
That's awesome that you just you found something that you clicked with.
Now, you talked about you eventuallykind of work your way in your
career to working specifically forcrimes that are targeting children.
Kind of tell us a littlebit about what that entails.

Michael (07:17):
So, everybody says the same thing.
That's the one job I wouldn't have.
Um, and after a while, I guessI was probably, Maybe 10 years
into my career, you get so jadedon like all the street violence.
Kids are pretty much theones that you care about.
Um, so when I was, I was asked to cometo Crimes Against Children and I gave it

(07:38):
heavy consideration and then I was like,yeah, that's, that's where I want to go.
Um, so my area, I worked, um,All, all physical sex crimes.
I worked all of it, butmy focus was internet.
Um, so at the time I went to likeall the FBI training and all that
and I hunted internet predators andI did that for about seven years.

Andy (08:01):
Okay.
And I know that that is a job thattakes a lot out of you as, you know,
a professional and as a human being.
So, you know, I admire you for steppingup and taking that job that, you know, a
lot of people just aren't qualified for.

Michael (08:14):
It does.
Um, my opinion, those detectives shouldgo through, every six months, they should
get some kind of psychological evaluationto make sure they're doing okay.
Because you literally see nightmares.
Um, just awfulness.
Um, but the other side of thatis, I never have to question on
whether or not I did some good.

(08:34):
That's never a question thatcomes up in my retirement.
I know I did.
I know I helped some people, um, andgot some true bad guys off the street.

Andy (08:44):
That's awesome.
So, you know, you and I aretalking here as dads, we have other
parents who are listening to us.
You know, with your focus, you know,being on the internet and everything,
what were the common tactics thatyou were seeing being used by
predators to target kids online?

Michael (09:02):
Almost always the, um, well, when I would set up my character on, uh,
so I would pose as a child online, right?
And, um, it would have to be realisticbecause they know there are guys like
me that are hunting guys like them.
Um, so they'll probe and from real life.
calls that I would go to when, youknow, grandma calls at nine o'clock

(09:25):
in the morning and her 13 yearold granddaughters disappeared.
And she hands me a computer andsays, please find my granddaughter.
That's it.
That's all you get.
Um, so I would take the, the real lifesituations that, you know, the child has.
They're, you know, um, theyhave a electronic device

(09:46):
in their room at the time.
It was a computer, but nowit could be a cell phone.
Um, they have all kindsof privacy privacy.
They don't have any monitoring whatsoever.
Grandma has no idea howto get on the phone.
Um, just the whole scenarioall comes together.
Um, so that's who my character would be.
And that's what I would see a lot.
Um, yeah.

(10:07):
Of real world world situations.
Um, a lot of times my character'smom wouldn't be home because
she was a nurse and she worked,she worked, you know, odd hours.
Um, let's see, what else?
Um, basically any vulnerability.
Um, you could mention to where,you know, mom doesn't understand

(10:28):
me, that kind of thing.
And those guys, they, they prey on that.

Andy (10:33):
Yeah, so they're just looking for those vulnerabilities.
They're looking for whatever cluesthat kids are giving them that
would give them an insight tobeing somebody valuable to them.
Is that

Michael (10:43):
what it is?
Yep, and they'll have a specialrelationship, uh, with my own kids.
Um, I tell them we don't keep secrets.
Um, you know, there's,there's, there's no secrets.
There's surprises, but we don't do,we don't do secrets in our family.

Andy (10:58):
Right.
And that's a good point because likea surprise is a birthday present.
A secret is something muchdarker than that, right?
Yeah, absolutely.
Very cool.
So, are, and I know this is differentbecause each individual predator
is different, each situation isdifferent, but what are predators
looking for in their perfect target?

(11:21):
What are the things that whenthey see it, they're like, okay,
I know that I can exploit this.
What is that that they're looking for?
Um,

Michael (11:30):
usually the age group between like 10 and 15 years old.
Um, that's what I saw the most.
And that's usually when kids have the mostturmoil in their life on who they are.
And you know, they're, they'retrying to figure out life.
Um, there's usually, usually alot of conflict with their parent.
Usually they don't have parents.
Um, and, uh, that's the role that,uh, the predator is trying to fill.

(11:55):
So he has an in.

Andy (11:58):
Right.
Okay.
So, there's a lot of parents who are outthere who are like, you know, my child
is smart, they're well adjusted, theywould never fall for a predator's tricks.
You know, what do yousay to parents like that?

Michael (12:14):
Um, everybody says that.
Uh, and Like I've had parents thathave told me my, you know, my child
would never be involved in bullying.
And then they get a monitored phone towhere, you know, the AI is looking at
what your kid is saying and you'll getan alert saying, hey, there's bullying
and you don't find that you find out thatit's not your kid that's being bullied.

(12:35):
It's your kid that's the bully,you know, and you're like, this
is a side I didn't know about.
Um, And that is one of the thingsthat I would, I would recommend
to any parent is to get some kindof monitored phone for their team.
Don't give them an iPhone.
iPhones are meant for privacy.
That's great for adults, not for kids.
Kids need limited privacywhen it comes to online stuff.

(12:56):
Like I said, everybody says that,um, my son was at a young age and
it was on a gaming console andgaming consoles are the wild west.
There is no monitoring.
Um, the government,from what I understand.
Is doing better in it because terroristswere using gaming consoles to communicate.
Um, but they're not looking for predators.
They're looking for terrorists.

(13:17):
So, um, my son was at that age where hedidn't understand the difference between
online friends and real life friends.
So some of his friends introducedhim to these other people
that were posing as children.
And I ended up pinging oneof them's address and it
came back across the border.

Andy (13:36):
Mm hmm.

Michael (13:37):
Um, so, you know, you think it's never gonna be my kid and then
you find out, well, it can be, youknow, under the right circumstances.

Andy (13:44):
Right.
You make a great, you know,point about the whole console.
These boxes are kind of the Wild West.
I have to talk to my son regularlythat, you know, Fortnite will call
your list of contacts friends.
You've never met these people, andchances are you never are, so you
don't really know who they are.

(14:04):
And so I try to help him understandan online contact is very different
from a friend that you have in school.

Michael (14:13):
Right.
Oh, I always say that reallife is more frightening than
anything that I could drum up.
So I bring up things like Iposed as a believable 13 year
old girl online for years.
Um, and you know, if I coulddo it, you know, an old man,
then anybody could do it.
Right,

Andy (14:32):
right.
Yeah.
And again, it kind of goesback to this parents thinking,
Oh, it would never be my kid.
It would never do that.
But you know, the lines of not being ableto be monitored on these gaming consoles
or being able to monitor on like a cellphone and that sort of stuff really, I
think, can help parents understand thatwhile you have raised a good kid, they're
still going to make mistakes and they'regoing to make mistakes in a digital

(14:55):
world where nothing really disappears.
Right?

Michael (14:57):
Right.
Um, and you know, and I always say thatour job as parents, the kid's job is
to make mistakes and learn from them,because it's better they make them when
they're under 18 than when they're adults.
Um, but my job as a parent is to makesure they don't make the fatal mistake.
Right.

Andy (15:13):
Right.
Kind of, kind of talk us through,um, like sextortion is something
that I think people are talkingabout more and more every day,
and I think that's a great thing.
What is that process?
What does it look like?

Michael (15:27):
So the way that works is, um, it's almost always
boys because boys are stupid.
You know, we were boys at one time.
Um, and these conversationshappen within 10 minutes.
So it's fast.
It's not like it lasts for weeks.
Um, most of the scammersare out of the country.
So after you get that IP address thatgoes to wherever that's not in the United

(15:49):
States, the case is basically over,um, cause we don't have jurisdiction.
So, um, what happens is, uh, uh, random.
Um, and that female profile willcontact your son and cat him up and
convince him within 10 minutes tosend him send this person a nude.
When they do that, theperson says, Oh, guess what?

(16:12):
I'm actually, uh, you know, a Nigerianscammer and I want you to give me
50 then mow it to me or go intoyour parents, uh, wallet and get
a credit card and give that to me.
Um, And it just they'regoing to demand something.
Um, There have been boys.

(16:32):
I'm sure that you've you'veread about that have committed
suicide because of these demands.
They're too embarrassed.
Um, you know, to come to their parentsand they think it's the end of the world.
Absolutely have thatconversation with your children.
No matter what it is, we'll figure it out.
Um, you know, it doesn'tmatter what it is.
One of the great things as badas AI is, um, as far as changing

(16:54):
images and things like that.
One of the best things that has happenedis that they're using Real life child
faces and then they're making an AI body.
So all your, all yourson has to do is say.
That's AI, that's not me.
Because what they'll do isthey'll say I'm going to send
it to your whole contact list.
And they may or may not do it.

(17:16):
Usually they don't becausethey're businessmen.
At the end of the day they're scumbagsbut they're, they're trying to make money.
So they don't have time to, tosend your whole contact list, that
nude image you sent of yourself.
They're going to move onto the next, the next one.
Um, never send them moneybecause that never ends.
Um, it'll be one after the next, after thenext, um, just cut off all communications

(17:37):
and tell them that you, you know, younotified the FBI and usually that's it.
Um, but yeah, um, one of the, oneof the, I guess silver linings, uh,
is that now every kid, if they dosend that image out, they can say,
you know, that image is not me.

Andy (17:54):
You know, as a dad, I'm sure you've had these hard talks with your kids.
Um, what can you do to encourage parentsjust to get this conversation rolling?
What would you suggest that they do?
How would they have this conversation?
Maybe something that workedin your life or didn't work.
And you're like, man, Ishouldn't have done it this way.
I would have done it this way.
What is a way that parents can, canactually say these words to their kids?

Michael (18:20):
Um, The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
has really good icebreakers like onhow to talk to your kids in there.
They have videos on, you know,if you want to show them a
video that are age appropriate.
Um, and I think that's the main thingis that, um, I try to walk that line
from seeing all these nightmaresin real, real life to not scarring

(18:43):
my child for life, but educatinghim and bringing him up to speed to
like real, this really does happen.
This is real world.
Um, So it was always a balancing actand I probably started that when he was
seven, um, because it's a digital age,man, my kid could fly on that iPhone on
apps that were called toddler teasersand like, you know, identify the circle

(19:04):
and he would hit the circle and all that.
So, um, that part was great, but alsoseeing the part where I know there's
bad guys that have access to him and Ineed to limit that as much as possible.
Um.
So I would say the key to that isbeing age appropriate and having those
open lines of communication early.
The one thing you don't want to do, andit is, um, it was, it was hard for me not

(19:30):
to do, um, is something happens online.
Your child comes to youand tells you about it.
And your response is totake that thing away.
Um, and You know, like you can'thave your PlayStation for a week now.
All you've taught them is that you'regoing to punish them if they come to you.
Um, so that's the onething you don't want to do.

(19:52):
And it, like I said, it's, it, itfeels natural to do that and you
want to protect your children.
But um, if you do it once,they'll learn from that and
they won't come to you again.

Andy (20:01):
Right, so you just gotta foster that honesty and that open
communication that they will come toyou if something bad has happened.
That's, that's a very good point to make.
Um, yeah, that's awesome.
So, what are, I, I know that kidswhen they're being, You know,
talked to by some predators.
They exhibit different behaviors.
They, they, they're maybe not as happy,or they can't sleep, that sort of stuff.

(20:24):
What are some of the red flags inbehaviors that parents need to look
for to understand that somethingmight be going wrong with my kid?

Michael (20:32):
You know your kid, and you know when something's off.
Um, and If they start acting weird andI don't that's different for every kid,
I'd start paying attention to that.
Um, especially if they start gettingmore and more secretive with their
phone or their electronic devices.
If you come into the room, Firstof all, they shouldn't have any
electronics in the room to begin with.

(20:53):
Um, it should be computers and gamingstations should be in public areas
and they should be in places whereyou can just walk by and look at the
screen and see what they're doing.
Um, if they're real young, I adviseagainst microphones unless they're just
playing with their friends and that's it.
But if your kid sounds like he'sseven, he shouldn't have a microphone.
Um, If they mainly if they startbeing secretive, if you say, give me

(21:18):
give me your phone and they refuse.
Um, that's a big red flag or if there'sany kind of hesitation or whatever.
Um,
Now they have apps that look like otherthings that are actually texting apps.
So it may look like a Cal, it may looklike, look like a calculator when you're
scrolling through it and it's totallyinnocent, and they need this for school.

(21:40):
And it's not, it, it's a textingthing that you're not checking.
Um, another thing that they willhave access to because of school
and at school is Google Docs.
Google Docs acts just like Snapchat.
Um, you can invite as many peopleas you want, and type back and
forth, and then erase it, andthen it's like it never happened.

Andy (22:01):
Wow, that is, you know, that's, that's something I had not heard, but
yeah, that makes complete sense that youcould just type in whatever, drop in an
image, drop in a link, that sort of stuff,and it's all right there in Google Docs.
Man.
And the school allows it.
Yeah, and that's what a lot of peoplethink when they, when they have a
school issue device for their kid that,oh, it's got to be 100 percent safe.
And I have discovered that's notthe case, at least in my district.

Michael (22:24):
Right.

Andy (22:25):
Yeah, so yeah, we, we have to look after the school devices as well.
We have to treat them like wewould, you know, anything else.
Um, so let's say you have a childthat has sent a text, sent a picture
that they weren't supposed to, theyhaven't told you, somehow you find
out what do parents need to do next?

(22:46):
How do they turn thisinto a teachable moment?
How do they address this so that theycan resolve it in a positive way?

Michael (22:54):
Um, I think that open line of communication, explaining
the dangers, um, explaining that,you know, the internet is forever.
If you, whatever you upload orwhatever you say, it's there forever.
Um, and you, you might not be thinkingabout college now or a future job, but you
know, all those things are on the, on theplate and you never know how far back a

(23:16):
college or a job is going to look to, youknow, to Google your name to see what kind
of online, online activity you've had.
Um, If they do do something that is,um, first of all, uh, images under 18
of genitalia on a child is illegal.
It's like heroin.
You just can't have it.

(23:36):
Um, that includes your child.
That includes you.
And that includes the general public.
Um, So if that does happen, you wouldwant to contact the National Center for
Missing and Exploited Children, NCMEC.
I work with them all the time.
Um, they have a database ofall the illegal photos that are

(23:56):
out there that they know of.
And they attach an age to animage and they they give it
what they call a hash number.
And they put this and it's more uniquethan a fingerprint to that image.
And that way, if your kid's image showsup on one of my bad guy's devices,
I don't even have to see the image.
The computer goes through and looksfor that hash number and says, Oh,

(24:18):
that's that image and it's illegal.
So now I got my bad guy.
Um, They also have aprogram called Take It Down.
Um, so if your kid does get postedsomewhere, um, they have resources
and things set in place where they cannotify companies to say this image is
illegal, it cannot be put up, and thenthe companies have to take it down.

Andy (24:42):
Okay, those are two awesome resources to have.
Um, you know, as we wrap up here,we've talked a lot about, you know,
what parents can do to be proactive.
Is there a positive story that you canshare about maybe work you did or your
team did to really Help a kid who wasin a crisis situation so that whatever

(25:03):
it was, they were facing was made alittle bit easier by what you guys did.
Or maybe there's a bigbad guy you took down.
Of course.
I know you can't say names or anythinglike that, but is there a story like that
you'd like to share with us to help usunderstand that there are good people
like you out there fighting for kids?

Michael (25:18):
Um, gosh, there's a bunch.
I mean, over the years, I probablyput away a hundred people.
Um, the, what I was, I wassaying a little bit earlier that.
When you're working child crimes,the cases are tough and you will
carry them with you, some ofthem for the rest of your life.
Um, cause you can't unsee something.

(25:39):
Um, and, and, uh, the upsidewas, like I said, you're actually
helping an innocent child.
Um, and you're, you're trying tocorrect a horrific thing and maybe get
them in contact with counseling or,you know, whatever they need early.
Um, but also.
Juries are sympathetic to catchingchild predators and all of my cases

(26:03):
were, um, pretty easy in that it was ona screen and I'm recording the screen.
So all I do talk to juryand say, do you see that?
So did I, you know, and this isexactly what happened, you know,
and so there's no question on whathappened or anything like that.
Um, the conversation.
For, um, of a sexual nature with a child,the conversation itself is illegal.

(26:29):
Um, and even a lot of people don'tknow that even if it's like a grooming
situation to where they say, Okay,when you're 18, I know you're, you're
14 now, but when you're 18, we'llget together and we'll do the deed.
That's an illegal conversation too.
Um, but, uh, when I workedwith, uh, The federal government

(26:52):
because I took my case is federal.
Um, there are heavy penaltiesfor these types of crimes.
Uh, and like I said, just thatconversation can get you 10 years
max, mandatory minimum 10 years.
Um, but we would do them onemore and we would make them meet.
So these dudes would actuallyshow up to my decoy and then we

(27:13):
have a takedown team and all that.
Um, Some of them brought weapons.
Some of them brought restraints.
I had people bring drugs,um, sex toys, you name it.
Um, so, yeah, one less bad guy on thestreet hunting, uh, hunting children.
And, uh, um, the wild thingwas, is that when you're doing

(27:36):
interview and interrogation,I have to get that confession.
I don't necessarily need it, but thejury wants to hear that guy say, I
really am attracted to a 10 year old.
Um, because normal people don'tunderstand how that's possible and
that could be reasonable doubt.

Andy (27:54):
So,

Michael (27:55):
um, man, I'd go in and I'd wear a Hawaiian shirt.
I'd be as non threateningas possible because.
These bad guys are not like bank robbers.
They're intro, they're introverts.
There's a reason they like children.
Um, and if you go in there and try tobully him, they're going to shut down
or they're going to ask for a lawyer.
Um, so, uh, yeah, and it's.

(28:21):
I think it's kind of almost tribal.
I think there's something in usthat knows a relationship, a sexual
relationship with a child is wrong.
And I think it goes back to cavemandays where the people in the village
will kill you or they'll throwyou out of the, you know, they'll
throw you out of the village.
Um, so meeting a guy, arrestinghim, getting him to my office

(28:42):
in the interrogation room andgetting him to admit to me the
deepest, darkest secret he has.
In like an hour.
Um, it was always, it wasalways quite a challenge.

Andy (28:53):
Yeah, yeah, it sounds like it, and it's, it's, you make a good point, because
we always think that these predators arelike these monsters that sit behind these
keyboards, and in a way they are, butit's, these are introverted people that
probably, maybe if you looked at them,you wouldn't think that they would be
somebody who could do something like this.

Michael (29:11):
And, um, It can be anybody.
And I've said before in myvideos, nobody gets a pass.
I don't care if you're clergy.
I don't care if you're a policeofficer, a lawyer, a doctor.
Until I'm done with myinvestigation, nobody gets a pass.
Because if you look hard enough,you'll find that it can be anybody.
Um, now usually they'll intentionallyposition themselves around children.

(29:33):
So they'll have jobs or, or like be, Idon't know, scout leader or something.
And they'll have a job around kids.
Um, because they're puttingthemselves in that environment.
But almost always they never had a record.
So I'm getting 10 years of prisontime to somebody that's never
been caught committing a crime.

Andy (29:53):
Right.
And so like a lot of times, youknow, like I coach youth basketball.
So I always have to go throughand do a background check.
And I know from havingconversations with folks like you.
These people don't have records,so there's a lot of times,
like, the basic background checkwon't catch these folks, right?

Michael (30:09):
No, they, they, they've never, uh, been caught committing a crime.
It's not that they'venever committed a crime.
Um, and with, uh, with sexpredators, they evolve.
Um, so, like, what they were doingfive years ago is probably Um, not
as bad as what they're doing todayand they've evolved and gotten worse.

(30:30):
So they may have only been talking tokids five years ago, but now they're like.
Trying to open some kind ofrelationship because they're evolving.
Um, kind of like how peeping Tomsare, are, are dangerous because
they're going to evolve as well.

Andy (30:46):
Right.
You start off at one placeand you end up somewhere else.
And given how technology is changing,how relationship for social media, AI.
I feel like this problem is goingto get worse before it gets better.
How do you feel?

Michael (31:02):
Um,
I think with, um, the AI and thetech becoming better and better.
Um, I mean, you can use it.
It's not good or evil by itself.
It's how you use it.
Um, like with a monitored phone.
I don't know if I can mention Bark ornot, but they're, they're doing, um.

(31:25):
I don't think anybody else is doingwhat they're doing, um, and having
it for my kid when he was, youknow, 13 and it was invaluable.
Um, eye opening.
I tell people all the time, justbe ready when you get that phone,
you give it to your teenager, justbe ready because there's a whole
side that you don't know about.
Um, and, um, you know, it's justlike I said, it's just, it's just

(31:49):
growing up, kids making mistakes andhopefully they don't make the, you
know, the, the super serious ones.

Andy (31:55):
Right, you know, you and I, we are older than the internet.
This is not something that we grew up ina household that had these sorts of rules.
This is stuff that we're learningas first generation digital parents.
So we're making mistakes too.

Michael (32:09):
Oh yeah.

Andy (32:10):
Yeah.
Very cool, man.
Well, Michael, thank you somuch for talking with me today.
Where can people find out moreabout you and your mission?

Michael (32:18):
Um, my webpage is killerbetackle.
org, uh, and you can go there andit has all my, I'm on all social
media, name it, and I'm on it.
Um, I'm, I'm bigger on some than on theothers, but if you follow me on, on,
uh, You know, if you're on Facebook andyou do Facebook a lot, I'm on Facebook.

Andy (32:36):
Very cool.
Yeah.
I follow you on Instagram.
I think my wife follows you on Tik TOK.
So yeah, it's, it's really cool.
So you're, you're atboth of our phones, man.
And I, I appreciate what you're doing.
Um, you know, I know that you've retiredfrom law enforcement, but you were still
using your skills to help people, man.
God bless you.
I appreciate you.

Michael (32:53):
Thank you very much, sir. I appreciate you.
God bless you guys.

Andy (32:59):
That's all we have for The Secure Dad Podcast for today.
Thank you friend for listening.
Take back your privacy and personaldata with help from DeleteMe.
Get 20 percent off a privacy planwhen using the code DAD at checkout.
DeleteMe is the official dataremoval service of The Secure Dad.
Keep your kids safe whilegaming with my ebook, Level Up.
You can get your copy today at the link inthe show notes or visit TheSecureDad.com.

(33:24):
If you'd like to know more aboutme, visit TheSecureDad.com.
There you'll find freedownloads, books to buy, podcast
episodes, and a whole lot more.
I'm Andy Murphy and I wantyou to talk with your kids
about what you learned today.
Don't make it a big deal.
Just talk to them at thelevel that they're at.
You'll be surprised how well it will go.