The National Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force Program, consists of state and local law enforcement task forces dedicated to developing effective responses to online enticement of children by sexual predators, child exploitation, and child obscenity and pornography cases. Each State and local task force that is part of the national program shall: 1) consist of State and local investigators, prosecutors, forensic specialists, and education specialists who are dedicated to addressing the goals of the task force; 2) engage in proactive investigations, forensic examinations, and effective prosecutions of Internet crimes against children; 3) provide forensic, preventive, and investigative assistance to parents, educators, prosecutors, law enforcement, and others concerned with Internet crimes against children; 4) develop multijurisdictional, multiagency partnerships and responses to Internet crimes against children offenses through ongoing informational, administrative, and technological support to other State and local law enforcement agencies, as a means for such agencies to acquire the necessary knowledge, personnel, and specialized equipment to investigate and prosecute such offenses; 5) participate in nationally coordinated investigations in any case in which the Attorney General determines such participation to be necessary, as permitted by the available resources of such task force; 6) establish or adopt investigative and prosecution standards consistent with established norms, to which such task force shall comply; 7) investigate, and seek prosecution on tips related to Internet crimes against children, including tips from Operation Fairplay, the National Internet Crimes Against Children Data System, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's CyberTipline, ICAC task forces, and other Federal, State, and local agencies, with priority being given to investigate leads that indicate the possibility of identifying or rescuing child victims, including investigative leads that indicate a likelihood of seriousness of offense or dangerousness to the community; 8) develop procedures for handling seized evidence for ICAC task force lead agencies and affiliate agencies; 9) maintain reports required by OJJDP and other reports and records as determined by the Attorney General; and, 10) seek to comply with national standards regarding the investigation and prosecution of Internet crimes against children, as set forth by the Attorney General, to the extent such standards are consistent with the law of the State where the task force is located.
The Rhode Island Internet Crimes Against Children (RIICAC) Task Force, under the administration of the Rhode Island State Police, has served as an independent ICAC Task Force since November 2007. RIICAC continues to work tirelessly to fulfill the national ICAC mission to develop and provide an effective response to cyber enticement and child pornography cases within the State of Rhode Island.
Using OJJDP funding, RIICAC plans to meet the local and national task force goals and objectives through the inclusion of additional personnel to keep up with the demands of investigative and forensic analysis, continued specialized training in emerging investigative techniques, and updated forensic software and hardware, as well as continued targeted educational campaigns to local communities on Internet safety and online child victimization. RIICAC’s measurement of progress towards these goals will be both quantitative in comparison to the number of presentations, affiliate members, and/or investigations in previous years, and qualitative in the ability of task force members to apply the knowledge obtained from training to current RIICAC investigations.
