Support Police, Protect Our Kids
When egregious, unthinkable crimes occur against our children, our gaze immediately turns to the criminal. And then, abruptly, to the police and everything that could have been done or was not done. Slowly, we begin to paint a larger picture, distributing guilt to those tangentially involved - forgoing that our initial instincts were correct: Guilt falls to the criminal, and crimes can be mitigated with a well-resourced, trained, staffed police force.
A few weeks ago, we mentioned the PROTECT Act of 2008, which had been successfully sponsored by then-Senator Biden. The legislation requires:
“the Department of Justice to develop and implement a National Strategy Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction, to improve the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, to increase resources for regional computer forensic labs, and to make other improvements to increase the ability of law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute child predators.”
The Act mandates that the National Strategy be updated every 2 years, led by an appointed senior official, and includes 19 specific statutory elements, including the engagement of local law enforcement through the ICAC network. Late last year, a report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that:
“In the past 14 years, 9 detailees have rotated through the national coordinator position. DOJ has only issued a strategy twice, hasn't fully included 12 of 19 elements, and hasn't updated it since 2016 to address advances in technology, like encryption, that make it harder to catch online predators preying on children.”
DOJ officials attributed these delays to several factors - including staffing and resource constraints as reports to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children CyberTipline, the largest reporting vehicle, skyrocketed. As the new Congress introduces, re-introduces, and discusses legislation to protect kids, consider these findings.
Last week, we touched on state-level efforts to eliminate statutes of limitations in civil suits against child sexual predators. Reaching beyond the limits of civil justice, criminal procedures leverage the resources of the justice department to investigate allegations, prosecute perpetrators, and protect our children. Most importantly, law enforcement exists to combat crimes, including child sexual abuse. We hope policymakers and advocates, like you, make sure they have everything they need to keep our children safe.