FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, February 8, 2024

Video/Interview opportunity with the Washington Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force

When: Thursday, February 8 at 11:30am

Location: Park 90/5 Building A, 2203 Airport Way South

Who: Members of the task force and the team’s electronic detecting K9 Nala with her handler.

The Washington Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force is working to expand the use of software that will increase its ability to analyze evidence in cases involving technology related crimes against minors to address the large backlogs of cases from 138 state, county, and local law enforcement agencies. This software is becoming even more essential to increase investigative capacity with low law enforcement staffing levels across the state and is especially relevant with the recent U.S. Senate hearings on youth and social media. 

The Seattle Police Foundation is launching a major fundraising effort to assist the task force in purchasing this new software license.

The Foundation would like to thank the Puyallup and Tulalip Tribes for their initial donations to support this fundraiser. The goal is to produce the positive results during a 5 year pilot project in an effort to obtain federal funding.

Some of the most recent WA ICAC statistics:

• The number of children enticement cases increased 76% in 2023 from 2022
• Cyber Tips are on average up from 200 a month in 2020 to 1156 a month in 2023
• Case referrals from National Center for Missing & Exploited Children have more than doubled since 2019

Feel free to reach out with questions and to RSVP. Link to donation page is here.

NATHAN WILSON Vice President of Communications C 316.250.2751 STRATEGIES360.COM nathanw@strategies360.com