Silicon Valley Internet Crimes Against Children (SVICAC) Task Force Forensic Capacity Hiring Program

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.

The San Jose Police Department will hire a wounded, injured or ill veteran that will serve as a part-time Digital Forensic Analyst with grant funds to support the Silicon Valley Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. The position will help address forensic backlogs, reduce evidence processing time, and increase prosecutions of those who commit Internet crimes against children. Some of the tasks may include, handling computer hard drives and storage devices to analyze user patterns, using different software programs to recover information from media devices, and preparing detailed reports after running computer analysis. The Forensic Analyst will ensure that all forensic activity is executed according to all federal and local law and internal standards. In order to achieve the project’s goals and objectives, the Task Force will: 1) enhance its digital forensic capacity effectiveness within the geographic area of responsibility, 2) conduct thorough and efficient computer forensic examinations, 3) improve effectiveness to prevent, interdict, investigate, and prosecute Internet crimes against children and technology facilitated child exploitation at the local, state and federal levels, and 4) reduce forensic examination backlogs. (CA/CF)