Can the law stop cyberbullying?

Instagram, Spapchat, Facebook, Twitter. More and more these days, it’s how kids communicate. But the 24/7 social media world can take an ugly turn fast. One local police chief wants to do something about it.

San Benito High School Junior Karla Santiago sees cyberbullying all the time.

“Lots of people decide to lash out on people they dislike, so they start pages humiliating them, or bashing them,” Karla said.

Her mom, Yadira Reyes, has access to both of her kids social media accounts. It’s something she and Hollister Police Chief David Westrick have in common.

“I’m on Instagram because I want to monitor my own child’s account, just as any responsible parent should,” Chief Westrick said. “I’ve seen some pretty horrific things.”

Sometimes criminal things. In April, Hollister police arrested a 14-year-old girl accused of running an Instagram account that shared naked photos of classmates and kids getting into violent fights; content so graphic, police won’t release it.

But with a few clicks, more than 2,000 people did see the posts.

“There were pictures of semi-nude teenagers. That needs to not be available to anyone,” Westrick said.

Westrick said shutting the account down took longer than it should have — two months — because Instagram wasn’t cooperating.

The department reportedly reached out to Instagram three times, but never heard back. But on Instagram’s basic terms of use, number two on the list reads in part, “You may not post violent, nude, or partially nude {…} photos or other content via the service.”

For Chief Westrick, this incident was a call to action he couldn’t ignore, saying law enforcement needs more tools to stop cyberbullying.

“In California, there isn’t a really good law on the books that allowed us, or assisted us with the case. We just need to really balance people’s free speech rights…with people’s safety.”

Westrick said police need a way to shut down or suspend accounts that victimize kids.

Hollister police say the teen who was arrested told them she just wanted to be more popular.

“It does not surprise me to hear that part of her motivation was to gain popularity, and unfortunately, I’m not surprised that it succeeded,” Frances Weesner said.

As the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program Coordinator for Harmony at Home, Weesner talks to kids about social media and the dangers.

She applauds Westrick’s work to change the law: “I say I’ll back him all the way.”

Westrick is working with Assemblymember Luis Alejo to create more specific laws.

The goal is to (1.) give police the power to quickly suspend malicious social media accounts through emergency restraining orders and (2.) create more specific charges for cyberbullying crimes

Alego agrees. In a statement, he promised support saying, “As cyberbullying increases within our schools, we need to do more to protect students. I look forward to working with Chief Westrick and other leaders to combat this issue.”

Even if it’s scary, parents like Yadira Reyes say they have to do their job.

“I’m a mom and I have to be acting like a mom. I can’t be your friend, because you have many friends, but you only have one mom,” she said.

Westrick and Alejo have already had one meeting. They plan to outline the specifics of the potential new legislation at their next meeting.