Title
U.S. Department of Justice, "Internet Crimes Against Children" (ICAC) Cooperative Agreement Application (NB)
This item requests City Commission authorization for the Gainesville Police Department to apply for a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to fund the North Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force
Explanation
In 2003, the City of Gainesville was awarded $277,080 through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice "Internet Crimes Against Children" (ICAC) Program. With this funding, the North Florida ICAC Task Force was established at the Gainesville Police Department as one of 46 ICAC Task Forces located around the United States. The North Florida ICAC Task Force provides investigative support and coordination to all law enforcement agencies in the northern 38 counties of Florida, investigating crimes against children involving the use of computers and the Internet. In 2005, the City of Gainesville was awarded continuation funding for the ICAC program in the amount of $391,503. During the past 12 months, the three full-time investigators assigned to the Task Force have handled over 570 cybertips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and assisted Task Force members in the arrests of over 86 suspects for charges including online enticement to the manufacture, distribution and possession of child pornography. The North Florida ICAC Task Force allows individual agencies to leverage resources from other members to successfully investigate and prosecute these difficult and widespread crimes.
The Gainesville Police Department has been notified by the U.S. Department of Justice that applications for continued funding will be due by January 3, 2007. The continuation request would fund the three investigators from the Gainesville Police Department for the North Florida ICAC Task Force. The funding would also support training and equipment purchases for other agencies in the North Flori...
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