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| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
FOR INFORMATION CONTACT: |
January 10, 2008
WWW.USDOJ.GOV/USAO/TXN |
Kathy Colvin (214) 659-8600 |
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U.S. CONGRESSMAN PETE SESSIONS JOINS
U.S. ATTORNEY RICHARD ROPER AND U.S. MARSHAL ELY TO PRESENT
$225,000 TO INTERNET CRIMES AGAINST CHILDREN TASK FORCE |
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Dallas, TX - At a ceremony this afternoon at Dallas Police Department
Headquarters, U.S. Congressman Pete Sessions, of the 32nd District
of Texas, along with U.S. Attorney Richard B. Roper and U.S. Marshal
Randy Ely, both of the Northern District of Texas, presented a check
representing $225,000 to Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle to
continue funding the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task
Force Program.
Congressman Sessions said, “The vast resources of the Internet have
brought engaging learning opportunities for children as well as a
new set of challenges for their safety. From government agency to
local school and family home, we have the responsibility to work
together to protect children from online predators. I am pleased
that the grant funding will enable the Dallas Police Department to
further develop effective investigative tools to catch online
predators and to promote educational prevention programs to keep our
children safe online.”
The ICAC Task Force Program enhances the nationwide response to
child victimization by maintaining and expanding a state and local
law enforcement network composed of regional task forces. In fiscal
year 2007, Office of Justice Program’s Office of Juvenile Justice
and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) awarded approximately $17 million
to fund the 59 ICAC task forces located throughout the nation. The
Dallas Police Department was awarded a grant in 1998 to establish
the ICAC.
U.S. Attorney Roper said, “The ICAC Task Force Program is the
cornerstone of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood
initiative, which is to investigate and prosecute Internet crimes
against children. The ever-increasing online presence of children,
the proliferation of child pornography and the lure of predators
searching for unsupervised contact with underage victims on the
Internet, continue to present a significant threat to the health and
safety of our children and a formidable challenge for law
enforcement. While our Dallas ICAC has been hugely successful in
stopping Internet criminal activity targeting children, it is
important that it continues to receive the resources it needs to
increase law enforcement’s pressure on child predators. This grant
money will allow the ICAC to continue to effectively develop its
multi-agency, multi-disciplinary responses to ICAC offenses.”
1 Many factors complicate law enforcement’s response to these
challenges. Law enforcement’s response is complicated because
traditional jurisdictional definitions are often meaningless in
cyberspace with very few investigations beginning and ending in the
same geographical area. The ICAC program enhances the nationwide
response to child victimization by maintaining and expanding a
federal, state, and local law enforcement network composed of
regional task forces. As a Project Safe Childhood partner, the ICAC
program encourages communities to develop multi-jurisdictional and
multi-agency responses and provides funding to state and local law
enforcement agencies to help them acquire the knowledge, personnel
resources, and specialized equipment needed to prevent, interdict,
or investigate ICAC offenses.
Chief Kunkle said, “The Dallas Police Department is proud to be a
partner and leader among local, state and federal law enforcement
officials focused on protecting our youth. All crime is serious, but
our officers and detectives take extra care when crimes involve
precious children — the leaders of the future.” Chief Kunkle went on
to say, “The Dallas Police Department will continue to use these
resources to seek out, arrest and convict internet predators.”
U.S. Marshal Ely said, “The Dallas Fort Worth Fugitive Apprehension
Strike Team (DFW FAST) has worked diligently with local law
enforcement in pursuit of violent offenders, to include those who
prey on the most innocent among us.” Marshal Ely continued, “I
congratulate the Dallas Police Department on their successful
Internet Crimes Against Children program and look forward to
continuing a great partnership aimed at making our community safer.”
This past summer, the DFW FAST participated in Operation Falcon
(Federal and Local Cops Organized Nationally), in which they
demonstrated their ability to locate and arrest violent fugitives -
as well as which targeted fugitives from justice and child
predators. It is just another example of the success that can occur
when a structure is in place that combines federal, state and local
resources and it is one of the main reasons that the U.S. Attorney’s
Office for the Northern District of Texas tasked the US Marshals
Service and DFW FAST with other Department of Justice (DOJ)
initiatives such as Project Safe Neighborhood, Public Housing Safety
Initiative and the Anti-Gang Initiative.
For more information on the DOJ OJJDP ICAC Task Force program, visit
http://ojjdp.ncjrs.gov/programs/ProgSummary.asp?pi=3
For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit
www.projectsafechildhood.gov |
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