Province unveils new Internet child sex exploitation unit
By Andy Weiler
The much anticipated announcement about a new weapon to fight online predators and pedophiles has received plenty of attention. On June 21, Alberta’s Solicitor General and Minister of Public Security, Harvey Cenaiko unveiled details about the province’s new Integrated Child Exploitation (ICE) unit.
This 21-member unit will find, investigate and arrest those people who prowl online chat rooms looking to exploit young victims for sex or who use the Internet to fulfill twisted fantasies by trading in child pornography.
The equivalent of seven investigators from five police services across Alberta are already doing just that. Their workload, however, is enormous. The province is providing over $1.75 million to add 13 new officers and forensic computer analysts to complement the existing resources. Police now have the resources to aggressively go after individuals who victimize and exploit children.
The ICE unit will be divided into two teams. One team will be based out of Edmonton and will combine resources from the Edmonton Police Service and the RCMP. The other will be based out of Calgary with resources from the Calgary Police Service, RCMP, Medicine Hat Police Service and the Lethbridge Regional Police Service.
But it’s not strictly about enforcement. Online victimization and sexual exploitation of children has continued to grow as the number of home computers increases and more kids are exploring the Internet. With that in mind, the new ICE unit will also focus on public education and awareness. Parents, teachers, caregivers and children need information and advice on how to stay safe on the Internet and what to do in cases where a child receives a sexual solicitation while online. And it happens more often than you might think.
A report published in June 2000 by the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children in Virginia showed that in a survey of youths, one in five had received a sexual solicitation over the Internet in the preceding year and one in four had an unwanted exposure to pictures of naked people or people having sex. Five years later it’s likely those numbers are even higher as more and more people go online.
The government’s response to the escalating problem comes in the form of the ICE unit. It gives police more resources, greater flexibility and better access to information to help them investigate crimes being perpetrated against one of society’s most vulnerable segments. You could say the heat is being turned up on Internet predators and pedophiles thanks to the ICE unit.
