Attorney General Jim Hood encouraged delegates to the 2007American Legion Boys State convention to participate in crimeprevention and mentoring programs Thursday night while deferringcontroversial policy issues to the questions of the young men laterin the speech.

“I’m sure you have questions about the death penalty and (otherheadline issues), but I’ll leave those questions to you. That’s notwhat I’m here to talk about,” Hood said in his opening remarks.

Hood, who is seeking re-election this year, urged the delegatesto stay involved in the election process and become leaders oftheir communities while making his address on the campus ofCopiah-Lincoln Community College.

“I have learned since college and law school that money isn’teverything,” he said. “Helping people in public service is where Iget my satisfaction.”

Hood did touch upon some office policies during hispresentation, but related those policies to the young men.

He said his office is conducting large investigations in pursuitof cybercrimes and told the delegates they were crimes that wouldaffect their generation more than his.

Hood specifically discussed the dangers to young girls andidentity theft.

The attorney general referred to recent actions by his officeand other state attorney generals to secure the names of sexoffenders who had been using MySpace.com, possibly to make onlineconnections with other young girls to exploit.

“It scares me because I don’t understand a lot of it,” Hoodadmitted. “It can be dangerous, particularly for young girls whoput their names and addresses on there.”

In addition, he said, the youth of today must be more aware ofidentity theft and learn how to protect their personal informationbecause it was their generation that would suffer the most from thevillainy of cybercriminals.

“It used to be a bank robber would rob a bank and maybe get$2,000 with the possibility of getting shot. At least that was adeterrent. Now, criminals can get much more electronically with nochance of injury by stealing your identity,” Hood said.

Drugs are also a major concern, he said.

“Meth is the most dangerous drug I’ve ever seen bar none,” Hoodsaid.

A law passed in recent years that limited the sale of precursorchemicals needed to manufacture the drug has been very effective,the attorney general said, citing a reduction in methamphetaminemanufacturing arrests of 70 percent since its passage.

The bill was based on laws passed in other states that had alsoproven effective there, he said.

“That’s the good thing about government. In government, thereare no copyright laws. You can copy what others have done,” Hoodsaid. “That’s been a very effective bill.”

The delegates, or any young person, can make an impact on crimesimply by getting involved in any of the mentoring programs, suchas the Boys and Girls Club or Big Brothers Big Sisters, availableto local communities, he said.

“Studies show that young people will listen to young people whoare not much older than them much more readily than an adult,” Hoodsaid. “No one wants to hear an old person lecturing to them. Youngadults look up to other young people though who can speak fromexperience.”

Delegate Cortez Moss, of Calhoun City, asked Hood what could bedone about the rampant use of drugs.

Drugs drive 90 percent of the crime in the state, the attorneygeneral said, and any efforts that can persuade young people not toabuse drugs can have a significant impact on crime inMississippi.

Prevention programs, he said, are “the best bang for the buck.”It’s far cheaper to put money into prevention programs than to payfor them after they’ve been incarcerated.

“There’s not just one bullet in the war on crime,” Hood said.”Locking them up is one bullet, but there are many others.”

The attorney general lamented the recent trend to further dividethe church and the state, saying the church could be a valuabletool in steering young people from crime or rehabilitating them,when answering McComb native John Delee’s question about to lessenthe number of repeat offenders.

“I think one effective weapon we’ve left off the table is thechurch,” he said. “There’s a lot of confusion on the meaning of theseparation of church and state, I think.”

It would also help, he said, to teach them a trade while they’reincarcerated and to make them get a General Education Diploma.

“We’re actually on the forefront in a lot of ways with our bootcamps and other programs, but you’ve got to get them rehabilitatedand out of the environment they were in before for any of that tobe effective,” Hood said.