Public not in favour of Creep Catchers group
A local group that has a goal of protecting children from online predators does not have the majority of support of the community, according to an informal online poll.
The Cape Breton Post asked our online readers to weigh in on the Creep Catchers group that recently claimed it helped police arrest a man who was trying to make an arrangement to have sexual relations with a child.
Specifically, we asked voters if they agree with what the Creep Catchers do.
More than 60 per cent of those who voted said they do not agree, while more than 34 per cent said they do agree.
Less than six percent of respondents were undecided on the matter. The poll also offered a space to discuss why a vote was cast for or against the group’s work and to offer opinions on the group itself.
Like the voting results, the majority of comments appeared to be against the work of the group.
“What these people do is nothing short of entrapment,” wrote a respondent identified only as Don. “Go to college and become police officers if you want to play cop,” wrote George Morrison.
Several commenters simply referred to Creep Catchers as vigilantes.
“Vigilantes always lead to abuse and manufactured crimes,” warned a voter identified as Mike.
“Vigilante ‘justice’ is not justice,” wrote Sean Smith.
“These smartphone cowboys are not interested in justice. They are interested in the attention they can get and the accolades they receive from an equally uneducated audience.”
Kathy Bradshaw suggested the group is interfering with active investigations.
“It’s a slippery slope to start supporting vigilantism for any crime,” she wrote.
Among the comments in favour of the work of the Creep Catchers came from a respondent identified as Kayla.
“As a mom of four young kids and (in) a world full of Internet and smart phones I agree 100 per cent,” she wrote.
More than 300 of the estimated 330 votes in the poll were cast from Canadian addresses.
Go online to — http://poll. fm/5ufra — to view the survey and its results.