IG Audits FBI Child Protection Programs
Jim Kouri, CPP
May 20, 2009
The following report is based on material submitted to the National Association of Chiefs of Police by the United States Justice Department.
Each year thousands of children are subjected to violent crimes such as sexual abuse and kidnappings. The US Justice Department considers protecting children from victimization a top priority. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is the DOJ´s primary component that investigates crimes against children.
Along with the FBI, many law enforcement agencies at the federal, state, and local levels are involved in the investigation and prosecution of crimes against children.
The FBI investigates crimes against children primarily through two major investigative units: the Innocent Images National Initiative Unit and the Crimes Against Children Unit. The IINI Unit is a component of the Cyber Crime Section within the FBI Cyber Division.
The IINI Unit investigates crimes against children through computers and other digital technologies such as digital cameras and MP3 Players. According to the OIG report, the FBI has 329 Special Agents and supervisors assigned to work on cyber‑related cases of crimes against children.
The CACU is a component of the Violent Crime Section within the FBI´s Criminal Investigative Division. The CACU has oversight over various crimes against children, including ) child abduction without ransom, international parental abduction of children, sexual exploitation, trafficking of children, domestic parental kidnapping, and interstate transportation of obscene matter involving children.
As of July 2007, the FBI has 102 Special Agents designated as Crimes Against Children Coordinators throughout the FBI´s 56 field offices.
In addition, these two programs receive significant support primarily from four other components at the FBI: the Behavioral Analysis Unit 3 (BAU-3) -- a support and research center with a focus on crimes against children; the Office for Victim Assistance (OVA) –- an office designed to assist victims of crimes, with children as its highest priority; the Digital Evidence Section (DES) – a unit for analysis of digital evidence seized from computers and other electronic devices in child pornography cases; and the Undercover Safeguard Unit (USU) – a component that performs psychological assessments of undercover employees working on crimes against children.
The objectives of the FBI´s Cyber Crime Section for 2007 included expanding IINI´s intelligence collection and analysis capability. During a review the Office of the Inspector General examined several instances where the FBI conducted research to enhance its ability to investigate cyber crimes against children.
At the FBI´s Los Angeles Field Office, one Intelligence analyst´s primary task was to research current technological innovations and assess whether any would lend themselves to misuse in crimes against children. Likewise, an Intelligence analyst at the San Francisco Field Office used her undercover identity to observe and analyze adult predators´ behavioral patterns.
Additionally, the Behavioral Analysis Unit has been conducting a research project since 2002 that analyzed completed IINI cases to identify characteristics of offenders, victims, and seized images of child exploitation. It's believed that these research efforts of the FBI are useful and have the potential to enhance law enforcement efforts by providing agents with additional information on emerging technologies as well as insights into the behavior and thought processes of the individuals who produce or access online child pornography.
To enhance its response to child abductions, the FBI in 2005 developed its Child Abduction Rapid Deployment (CARD) team program.
CARD teams are comprised of special agents located throughout the FBI´s field offices with experience in conducting investigations of child abductions in multi-jurisdictional settings. As of November 2007, 64 Supervisory Special Agents and Special Agents nationwide served on 10 CARD teams.
The FBI field office within the jurisdiction of an abduction decides whether it wants the assistance of a CARD team. Once deployed, CARD team members travel to the crime scene and serve as technical consultants to local law enforcement leading the search for the missing child. From the first deployment in March 2006 through 2007, the FBI deployed its CARD teams 26 times. Eleven deployments resulted in the recovery of the children alive; 13 deployments resulted in the recovery of the children deceased; and 2 deployments did not result in the location of the missing child.
The FBI documents CARD deployments by providing a narrative summary detailing the facts of the case and recounting the efforts made in the investigation. Although this documentation provides the date on which the children were reported missing and the date of the CARD team deployments, it does not capture critical data such as the time that the FBI was notified and the time that the FBI acted upon the notification.
However, the OIG recommended for the FBI´s overall child abduction assessment, the FBI should systematically track its CARD teams´ response time and investigative actions.
Report here:
http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-2684-Law-Enforcement-Examiner~y2009m5d20-FBI-child-protection-programs-audited-by-Inspector-General
Each year thousands of children are subjected to violent crimes such as sexual abuse and kidnappings. The US Justice Department considers protecting children from victimization a top priority. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is the DOJ´s primary component that investigates crimes against children.
Along with the FBI, many law enforcement agencies at the federal, state, and local levels are involved in the investigation and prosecution of crimes against children.
The FBI investigates crimes against children primarily through two major investigative units: the Innocent Images National Initiative Unit and the Crimes Against Children Unit. The IINI Unit is a component of the Cyber Crime Section within the FBI Cyber Division.
The IINI Unit investigates crimes against children through computers and other digital technologies such as digital cameras and MP3 Players. According to the OIG report, the FBI has 329 Special Agents and supervisors assigned to work on cyber‑related cases of crimes against children.
The CACU is a component of the Violent Crime Section within the FBI´s Criminal Investigative Division. The CACU has oversight over various crimes against children, including ) child abduction without ransom, international parental abduction of children, sexual exploitation, trafficking of children, domestic parental kidnapping, and interstate transportation of obscene matter involving children.
As of July 2007, the FBI has 102 Special Agents designated as Crimes Against Children Coordinators throughout the FBI´s 56 field offices.
In addition, these two programs receive significant support primarily from four other components at the FBI: the Behavioral Analysis Unit 3 (BAU-3) -- a support and research center with a focus on crimes against children; the Office for Victim Assistance (OVA) –- an office designed to assist victims of crimes, with children as its highest priority; the Digital Evidence Section (DES) – a unit for analysis of digital evidence seized from computers and other electronic devices in child pornography cases; and the Undercover Safeguard Unit (USU) – a component that performs psychological assessments of undercover employees working on crimes against children.
The objectives of the FBI´s Cyber Crime Section for 2007 included expanding IINI´s intelligence collection and analysis capability. During a review the Office of the Inspector General examined several instances where the FBI conducted research to enhance its ability to investigate cyber crimes against children.
At the FBI´s Los Angeles Field Office, one Intelligence analyst´s primary task was to research current technological innovations and assess whether any would lend themselves to misuse in crimes against children. Likewise, an Intelligence analyst at the San Francisco Field Office used her undercover identity to observe and analyze adult predators´ behavioral patterns.
Additionally, the Behavioral Analysis Unit has been conducting a research project since 2002 that analyzed completed IINI cases to identify characteristics of offenders, victims, and seized images of child exploitation. It's believed that these research efforts of the FBI are useful and have the potential to enhance law enforcement efforts by providing agents with additional information on emerging technologies as well as insights into the behavior and thought processes of the individuals who produce or access online child pornography.
To enhance its response to child abductions, the FBI in 2005 developed its Child Abduction Rapid Deployment (CARD) team program.
CARD teams are comprised of special agents located throughout the FBI´s field offices with experience in conducting investigations of child abductions in multi-jurisdictional settings. As of November 2007, 64 Supervisory Special Agents and Special Agents nationwide served on 10 CARD teams.
The FBI field office within the jurisdiction of an abduction decides whether it wants the assistance of a CARD team. Once deployed, CARD team members travel to the crime scene and serve as technical consultants to local law enforcement leading the search for the missing child. From the first deployment in March 2006 through 2007, the FBI deployed its CARD teams 26 times. Eleven deployments resulted in the recovery of the children alive; 13 deployments resulted in the recovery of the children deceased; and 2 deployments did not result in the location of the missing child.
The FBI documents CARD deployments by providing a narrative summary detailing the facts of the case and recounting the efforts made in the investigation. Although this documentation provides the date on which the children were reported missing and the date of the CARD team deployments, it does not capture critical data such as the time that the FBI was notified and the time that the FBI acted upon the notification.
However, the OIG recommended for the FBI´s overall child abduction assessment, the FBI should systematically track its CARD teams´ response time and investigative actions.
Report here:
http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-2684-Law-Enforcement-Examiner~y2009m5d20-FBI-child-protection-programs-audited-by-Inspector-General
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