ICAC Task Force: Cook County-IL HERO Forensic Capacity Enhancement Project

The National Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force Program, as established by the PROTECT Our Children Act of 2008, 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 resource 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.

Funding is being provided for the purpose of hiring a wounded, injured, or ill veteran in the position of digital forensic analyst to: 1) enhance digital forensic examination capacity of the Cook County ICAC Task Force; 2) improve the Task Force's effectiveness to prevent, interdict, investigate, and prosecute Internet crimes against children and technology-facilitated child exploitation, and 3) reduce the forensic examination backlog, and/or increase the number of forensic exams completed by the Task Force. The forensic examiner will be hired by the Cook County State's Attorney's Office and detailed to the Regional Computer Forensic Lab (RCFL). The forensic examiner will receive supervision through the Cook County State's Attorney's Office and the Chicago RCFL Director. The forensic examiner will conduct forensic examinations on various types of electronic and digital evidence including computers, digital cameras, cellular telephones, and all types of storage media for members of the Cook County ICAC Task Force as well as any law enforcement agency within Cook County investigating technology-facilitated crimes against children. CA/CF