National Child Victim Identification Program honored at 2015 GCN Awards
On Wednesday, October 14, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations’ (HSI) National Child Victim Identification Program (VIP) was honored at the 2015 GCN Awards held at the Ritz Carlton in Tysons Corner, Virginia.
The VIP program is part of the Child Exploitation Investigations Unit of HSI’s Cyber Crimes Center (C3). Established in late 2011, the VIP program supports ICE’s efforts to combat child sexual exploitation. The program combines traditional investigative techniques with the robust and growing technology of C3.
The program was one of only 10 projects that received the GCN Award for information technology (IT) excellence, which honors outstanding IT achievement in the government technology community. It was the first external award the program has ever received.
“I’m very grateful and humbled to receive this award,” said Special Agent Jim Cole, VIP national program manager. “It brings attention to the work we are doing globally.”
Other winning projects came from the National Institutes of Health, Los Angeles County, Department of the Navy, Department of Justice, State of Utah, Department of the Army, City of Philadelphia, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Ohio Department of Public Safety.
“Our program has had success beyond my wildest imagination, and that’s a testament to everyone who works on the program,” Cole said. “The average person is unaware of the program and the dangers of child exploitation.”
The VIP program makes use of the latest technology to identify and rescue victims of child sexual exploitation, working leads from around the world. Image, video and other files are analyzed in order to identify the clues that can lead investigators to the victim, suspect or narrow down the geographic location for further investigation.
In support of those efforts, the Department of Homeland Security Science & Technology (S&T) Directorate’s Non-Cooperative Biometrics Program has committed $3 million to evaluate and integrate cutting-edge technologies, such as facial recognition and text identification into current HSI forensic tools. The program is aimed specifically at technologies to aid in the fight against child sex abuse, but because those are some of the most technologically challenging cases, the program has implications for other missions as well. S&T plans to have the new technology tools ready for use by HSI within the next year.
The GCN Awards recognize the work of project teams, who are working at a time when demands for high performance, security and a clear return on investment have never been greater.
HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. From outside the U.S. and Canada, callers should dial 802-872-6199. Hearing impaired users can call TTY 802-872-6196. Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.
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