Award Information
Description of original award (Fiscal Year 2023, $625,000)
In 2008, Congress recognized the need for a system to assist credentialed law enforcement investigators in quickly and securely accessing information involving the online exploitation of children. With passage of the Protect Our Children Act 2008, Section 105, Congress directed the Attorney General to establish the National Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Data System. The West Virginia State Police was selected to build and maintain this system. The ICAC Data System has been in support of the ICAC task forces since 2014. The ICAC Data System currently has over 19,200 registered users, all of which are vetted by the respective ICAC Commander for that area.
The ICAC Data System has revolutionized the way ICAC task forces operate. ICAC task forces across the country are now working together without duplication of efforts. Cases are being transferred to investigators, affiliates, and other task forces without delay. The ICAC Data System is handling an average of 42,000 CyberTips a month. These CyberTips can be reviewed anywhere, and the appropriate response can be initiated quickly. Actionable intelligence is being passed from task forces at a moment’s notice. Performance measures are being approved, calculated, and submitted to OJJDP all from inside the system. Commanders now have a platform to run their task forces from.
Through this project, the West Virginia State Police plans to strengthen their technological capacity and add features requested by commanders and users. The ICAC Data System uses government cloud computing to process data more quickly and can scale up on demand. Four general areas will be focused on: User/ Task Force Work Reduction, De-Confliction, De-Duplication, and CyberTip Management (Handling Associations and Viral Content).