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Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force
The Phoenix Police Department has led the highly successful Arizona Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force program ever since the first U.S. Department of Justice grant was received in 2000. Investigators target offenders who lure minors via the internet and also offenders who possess or traffic unlawful images depicting the sexual exploitation of minors. The program was developed in response to the increasing number of children and teenagers using the internet, the proliferation of child pornography, and heightened online activity by predators seeking unsupervised contact with potential underage victims.
Nationwide, the ICAC program is represented in all 50 states. Within Arizona, the Task Force is partnered with 54 agencies statewide. Our Federal colleagues with the Arizona ICAC include the FBI, ICE, US Postal Inspection Service, US Marshals Service and Secret Service, each of which is vital to the success of identifying and locating child predators: In 2008, the AZ ICAC co-located at the FBI offices in Phoenix to facilitate inter-agency cooperation. ICE investigations into the worldwide distribution of unlawful images often lead to Phoenix where ICAC investigators routinely assist ICE with search warrants and interrogations. The US Postal Inspection Service continues to conduct investigations into unlawful images that travel via conventional mail. Their investigators routinely assist by providing information about local addresses where criminal activity is suspected.
The success of ICAC continues to grow exponentially each year due to the hard work of investigators and the collaboration between law enforcement agencies and numerous other partners. The latest grant funded project (February 1, 2007 - May 31, 2009) resulted in over 150 arrests from over 6,000 incidents; 1,062 of those were the result of information received from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). Successful prosecution is vital to removing these dangerous predators from society, but citizens also have a role in reducing the risk to children. Community members have taken an active role in the program, with 36,464 individuals receiving training in ICAC awareness and prevention. If you would like to know more about Arizona Internet Crimes Against Children, and what you can do to keep your community safer, please visit their website at www.azicac.org.