SPD asks for $5 million for software to help catch online child predators
SEATTLE - The Seattle Police Department is hoping to raise $5 million in donations and grants to better protect our kids from online predators.
The fundraiser would buy the department software they say is needed to reduce their staggering backlog of nearly 2000 tips about online sex crimes against children.
Investigators with Seattle’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force say in 2020, they received about 200 tips a month for these types of crimes.
Now those numbers are up to about 1600 a month, and investigators say most of them are valid tips.
"These are crimes of a horrible, depraved nature, where predators utilize technology to create, disseminate, and profit from the sexual abuse of children," said Lt. Ben Morrison, with the ICAC Task Force.
He said COVID and new technologies are the reason for the increase in tips.
There are hundreds of cases from December and November that investigators have not had the chance to look at yet.
That’s why they say the $5 million dollars is needed, to invest in new software to help catch predators faster.
"For me, it’s a no-brainer. We need this," said Detective Daljit Gill with the ICAC Task Force. "If you think about technology, every day new apps get released. Every day we are behind on technology."
The software uses AI to scrub through tens of thousands of files on predators' hard drives to determine what might be child porn or other evidence.
The software also helps these investigators avoid the trauma of these cases by blurring or obscuring the unimaginable images they have to look through to catch these predators.
Finally, the software will catalog new versus old images, helping to find and save children who are being exploited.
"It’s rewarding because we go after the really, really bad predators. It’s meaningful work, because you are protecting the most vulnerable," said Gill.
The software will be used by all 138 local, county, and state agencies who investigate internet crimes against children.
For more information or to donate click here.