News
New funding strengthens police work that combats online child exploitation

Aug. 24, 2024, Victoria, B.C. – Police in B.C. will soon have more tools to enhance their efforts in protecting children online and strengthen abilities to pursue, disrupt and prosecute offenders.

“Children and youth are spending more time online than ever. Sadly, that increases their vulnerability to predators looking to take advantage of them,” said Mike Farnworth, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General. “Online child exploitation happens every single day, and as social media platforms continue to grow, we must ensure our children are protected from those trying to hurt them. That’s why we continue to work with the federal government to equip police with the necessary tools to support units tasked with the very difficult job of investigating these horrendous crimes.”

Through the Federal Contribution Program to Combat Serious and Organized Crime, Public Safety Canada has allocated $3.5 million over three years to B.C. to bolster the efforts of municipal police departments in combating online child sexual exploitation. The funds will be used for staffing, equipment and training, to strengthen investigation capabilities in collaboration with the B.C. RCMP’s Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) unit.

Many police departments throughout the province complete ICE investigations, but they do not have resources solely dedicated to internet child-exploitation files. Until recently, the Vancouver Police Department was the only independent municipal police department in B.C. with a dedicated ICE Unit. In 2021 as part of a pilot project, the Victoria,  Esquimalt, Saanich, Central Saanich and Oak Bay police departments developed an integrated Capital Regional District (CRD) ICE Team. This funding will increase the capacity of both ICE teams and will enable all municipal police departments to increase the training and capacity of officers conducting ICE investigations. This will allow for more ICE investigations, and will help support efforts to raise awareness, reduce stigma around reporting, and increase B.C. and Canada’s ability to pursue and prosecute offenders.

Deputy Chief Kevin Hackett, Central Saanich Police Service, said, “On behalf of the municipal-area police chiefs, we acknowledge that this funding will allow our regional ICE team to continue in their efforts to protect children from predators who exploit and harm them. Our collaborative, co-ordinated and integrated approach proved to be successful in our previous pilot project, and we are confident that this new funding will help us to further build on those successes. We are encouraged by this opportunity and look forward to enhancing the safety and protection of our most vulnerable.”

Reported incidents of online exploitation rose significantly during the COVID-19 public-health emergency and has continued post-pandemic. B.C. ICE has noted a substantial increase in reports of exploitation incidents, such as child luring, grooming and child sexual exploitation material with more than 28,000 investigations opened between 2020 and 2023.

In September 2024, the Province will host a one-day forum featuring experts from the B.C. ICE Unit, and other relevant police investigators, B.C. Prosecution Service and Community Safety and Victim Services that will engage in roundtable discussions about finding solutions to keep children safe online. The discussions will focus on “sextortion” in B.C., family perspectives from people affected by this violence, a national perspective, prevention, education and training resources, and supports for victims affected by exploitation.