Child Predator Task Force holds first statewide course for law enforcement

Dover – At the start of a two-day training course designed to enhance Delaware police agencies’ ability to combat technology-assisted crimes against children, Attorney General Beau Biden encouraged the law enforcement officers in attendance to build on the successes of the Delaware Child Predator Task Force and go even further to protect Delaware’s children.

“I’d like to thank the United States Department of Justice for providing the necessary funds to equip the Child Predator Task Force with cutting-edge technology and hold this training,” said Attorney General Biden. “The Delaware Child Predator Task Force is a united front in the fight to keep children safe from harm, and training front-line police officers up and down the state in the powerful methods utilized by the Task Force will identify more predators and keep kids safe.”

The training course, attended by nearly 50 police officers from 15 agencies, is the first statewide seminar held by the Delaware Child Predator Task Force. Funded by a federal COPS grant, it features nationally-renowned instructors who will teach officers how to more effectively coordinate their investigations with the high-tech work of the Child Predator Task Force. By recognizing the signs of child predator activity and utilizing the latest technology, law enforcement can better protect children through their investigations of abuse and exploitation.

Attorney General Biden established the Delaware Child Predator Task Force in June, 2007. Responsible for coordinating online child exploitation investigations and prosecutions statewide, it now counts every local law enforcement agency in Delaware as members. Through the end of June, the  Task Force has opened 57 investigations that have led to 21 arrests in 2011. Notably, nearly one third of those investigations have led to the rescue of a child who was being exploited. Additionally, the Task Force’s proactive investigations into the online distribution of child pornography this year are almost double the number initiated at this time in 2010.

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