National Law Enforcement Training on Child Exploitation Held

Since its inception in 1998, OJJDP’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force program has helped state and local agencies develop effective, sustainable responses to online child victimization, including responses to the online sharing of child sexual abuse images. The program has increased the capacity of thousands of communities across the country to combat Internet crimes against children.

OJJDP established the ICAC Training and Technical Assistance program to provide task forces and their affiliates with the training and technical assistance they need to conduct effective investigations and prosecutions. As part of this commitment, OJJDP and its Department of Justice partners host an annual National Law Enforcement Training on Child Exploitation.

This year’s event, held virtually on October 19–23, 2020, shared the latest techniques for combating child exploitation in the ever-changing Internet environment. The training also offered an opportunity for ICAC task forces and their affiliates to share information and improve collaboration to stop technology-facilitated crimes against children. Attorney General William Barr offered video remarks.

OJJDP Updates Statistical Briefing Book

OJJDP has updated its Statistical Briefing Book:

• Easy Access to the FBI's Supplementary Homicide Reports data analysis tool has been updated to include data through 2019.
• FAQs describing the number, demographics, weapon use, and victim-offender relationship of juvenile homicide victims and juvenile homicide offenders have been updated through 2019.
• Easy Access to Juvenile Populations and related FAQs in the Juvenile Population Characteristics and Hispanic Youth in the Juvenile Justice System sections have been updated through 2019.
• FAQs describing the annual number of juvenile arrests and juvenile arrest rate trends found in the Law Enforcement and Juvenile Crime section have been updated to include data through 2019. Customizable arrest tables have also been updated through 2019.

Developed for OJJDP by the National Center for Juvenile Justice, the Statistical Briefing Book offers easy online access to statistics on a variety of juvenile justice topics.

New Issue of The AMBER Advocate Available

The OJJDP-supported AMBER Alert Training and Technical Assistance Program has released a new issue of The AMBER Advocate. In the top story, Craig Schroeder, previously with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, shares tips on how states can plan and organize a successful Missing Children’s Day event.

The issue also includes an article about how AMBER Alert coordinators and law enforcement officials in Idaho and California were able to rescue a cognitively impaired girl who had been lured away from home and transported across state lines for the purpose of sex trafficking. In addition, the publication provides a recap of AMBER Alert-related news developments from around the country and across the world.

Entries Sought for 2021 National Missing Children’s Day Poster Contest

The annual Missing Children’s Day poster contest creates an opportunity for schools, law enforcement, and child advocates to discuss the issue of missing and exploited children with youth and their families and to promote child safety. With the theme of "Bringing Our Missing Children Home Safely," OJJDP invites fifth graders to participate in the contest.

Each state hosts its own poster competition and submits the state’s winning entry to OJJDP for the national contest. The national contest’s winning poster is announced at the annual National Missing Children’s Day commemoration and serves as the inspiration for the event’s logo design for the following year.

Prospective participants should check with their state contest managers for the state submission deadlines. Contest rules, contact information for state contest managers, and other contest information are available online. The next National Missing Children’s Day event will take place on May 19, 2021.

NISMART–4 Study Is Underway

The Fourth National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway and Thrownaway Children (NISMART–4), mandated by the 1984 Missing Children’s Assistance Act (Pub. L. 98–473), is underway.

This survey is sponsored by OJJDP and managed by the National Institute of Justice. The National Law Enforcement Survey on Stereotypical Kidnapping will be used to gather information to estimate the number of children who were abducted by strangers between January 1 and December 31, 2019. Data will be collected from a national sample of law enforcement agencies with authority to investigate stereotypical (stranger) kidnappings.