Province announces $3.5 million in federal funding to strengthen policing efforts to combat online child exploitation – BC News

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The province announced Saturday that $3.5 million in new funding will be made available to help police combat the substantial increase in online child sexual exploitation.

The British Columbia RCMP’s Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) unit reports an increase in cases of exploitation, such as child luring, grooming and child sexual exploitation material. More than 28,000 investigations were opened between 2020 and 2023.

The additional funding for Public Safety Canada over the next three years is intended to provide police with “more resources to enhance their efforts to protect children online and to better detect, address and prosecute offenders.”

Agents are working with the ICE unit, which is supported by the Federal Contribution Program to Combat Serious and Organized Crime.

The departments will receive more staff, equipment and training to strengthen their research capabilities,” the province said.

“Children and young people are spending more time online than ever before, unfortunately this makes them more vulnerable to predators who seek to take advantage of them,” said Mike Farnworth, Minister of Public Safety and Attorney General, in the press release.

“Online child exploitation occurs every day and as social media platforms continue to grow, we must ensure our children are protected from those who would harm them. That is why we continue to work with the federal government to provide law enforcement with the necessary resources to support units tasked with the very difficult task of investigating these horrific crimes.”

The province said that until recently, Vancouver police were the only independent municipal police agency in British Columbia with its own ICE unit, while other departments lacked one.

In 2021, a pilot project was launched for the Victoria, Esquimalt, Saanich, Central Saanich and Oak Bay police departments to develop an integrated Capital Regional District (CRD) ICE team.

“This funding will expand the capacity of both ICE teams and enable all municipal police departments to increase the training and capacity of officers conducting ICE investigations,” the county said.

“This will allow for more investigations by ICE and support efforts to raise awareness, reduce the stigma surrounding reporting, and increase British Columbia and Canada’s ability to prosecute and prosecute offenders.”

Since the number of reported incidents of online exploitation increased during the pandemic, the rise has only continued.

Next month, the province will host a one-day forum with experts from the BC ICE Unit and other relevant police investigators, the BC Prosecution Service, and Community Safety and Victim Services. These roundtable discussions will focus on finding solutions to keep kids safe online.

They added that discussions will focus on sextortion in British Columbia, the perspectives of families affected by this violence, a national perspective, prevention, education and training resources, and support for victims of exploitation.