Asset 1ALERT-Wide-White

Internet Child Exploitation team Recognize Cybertip Awareness Day

Internet Child Exploitation team Recognize Cybertip Awareness Day

Edmonton… Today marks the fifth annual awareness day for Cybertip.ca, and ALERT’s Internet Child Exploitation teams recognize the value of Canada’s tipline for reporting online sexual exploitation of children. Cybertip.ca is operated by the Canadian Centre for Child Protection.

Cybertip.ca receives an average of more than 3,300 reports per month and encourages Canadians to protect children from offenders by taking action and reporting concerning online behaviour. If the information pertains to a potentially illegal incident, the report is sent to the appropriate law enforcement agency.

ALERT’s integrated Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) teams routinely rely on information provided by Cybertip.ca when conducting investigations related to child pornography, computer-related child sex abuse, child luring over the internet, voyeurism involving victims under the age of 18, and child sex trade/tourism. ICE is funded by the Alberta Government and is comprised of members of Calgary Police, Edmonton Police, Lethbridge Police, Medicine Hat Police, and RCMP.

A recent study conducted by the Canadian Centre examined close to 152,000 reports, including 43,762 unique images and videos classified as child pornography. Nearly 80 per cent of the images assessed by Cybertip.ca depicted very young, pre-pubescent children, under 12 years of age. One of the most alarming and under recognized facts is that almost 70 per cent of these images appeared to have been taken within a home setting.

“While this is certainly a global problem, the sad reality is that these crimes are also happening in homes across Canada,” said Lianna McDonald, Executive Director of the Canadian Centre. “Anytime we see a report of a child who has been sexually abused, there should be immediate consideration that the abuse has been recorded and shared online.”

“No one wants to see a child harmed, and Cybertip.ca provides a valuable link for police in combatting online sexual exploitation of children,” said ICE Insp. Dave Dubnyk.

In support of Cybertip.ca Awareness Day 2016, the Canadian Centre has launched a national campaign to raise awareness about the online sexual exploitation of children and to demonstrate how tips from Canadians can help protect children from sexual abuse.

The Canadian Centre is encouraging parents and adult members of the community to visit Cybertip.ca to view the campaign and to engage in the conversation on social using the hashtag #ctipday2016.

Since its inception in September 2002, Cybertip.ca has evolved as a central component of Canada’s national strategy to protect children from sexual exploitation on the Internet. Working closely with law enforcement across the country, the tipline has responded to 200,000+ child sexual exploitation reports from the public, resulting in at least 514 individuals being arrested, numerous children removed from abusive environments and the protection of countless children both within Canada and abroad.

Cybertip.ca also provides education and awareness material to help keep Canadians safe, distributing more than 12 million safety resources free-of-charge to schools, law enforcement, child welfare, industry and other stakeholders over the past 14 years.

Since 2022, CISA has been guided by four pillars that focus the effort to promote an integrated, intelligence-led approach to combating organized crime; these are:

  • Building Relationships with Stakeholders;
  • Promote Intel Sharing Across the Province;
  • Being Proactive and Identify Emerging Trends; and
  • Investing in Our People Through Training and Development

 

Criminal Intelligence Service Alberta (CISA) has recently developed an Alberta Firearms Intelligence Centre (AFIC) to equitably expand access to firearms intelligence for all law enforcement agencies within Alberta. AFIC will provide timely, accurate, and actionable intelligence to law enforcement agencies and policy-makers to achieve the shared and collaborative goals of increasing public safety concerning firearm-related crimes.

Protecting Kids Online | Internet Child Exploitation

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

2023-24

2022-23

2021-22

FILE INTAKES

680

872

1,149

1,114

3,815

2,994

2,764

SUSPECTS CHARGED

22

16

34

37

109

81

125

CHARGES LAID

87

45

123

160

415

351

413

CHILDREN RESCUED

26

78

56

43

203

46

100

EXHIBITS SEIZED

335

368

545

476

1,724

1,243

1,845

TOTAL PHOTOS/VIDEOS

262,400

511,133

1,374,310

606,254

2,754,097

2,551,921

13,260,819

Stopping Human Trafficking | HUMAN TRAFFICKING & COUNTER EXPLOITATION

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

2023-24

2022-23

2021-22

SUSPECTS CHARGED

13

10

7

4

34

30

76

CHARGES LAID

79

46

87

19

231

96

157

VICTIM INTERVENTIONS

30

29

17

37

113

28

22

Intelligence & Expertise | CISA / Training

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

2023-24

2022-23

2021-22

INTELLIGENCE REPORTS

409

296

327

442

1,474

1,560

1,318

TRAINING COURSES

5

3

8

11

27

36

25

CANDIDATES TRAINED

321

56

135

350

862

933

638

Disrupt & Dismantle Organized Crime | Combined Special Forces Enforcement

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

2023-24

2022-23

2021-22

SUSPECTS CHARGED

40

27

42

32

141

197

168

CHARGES LAID

176

156

237

231

800

1,088

820

FIREARMS SEIZED

105

53

26

48

232

102

126

EST. VALUE OF DRUGS SEIZED

$906,814

$553,851

$2,725,161

$1,148,337

$5,334,163

$10,898,269

$334,093,020

PROCEEDS OF CRIME SEIZED

$218,133

$52,970

$130,996

$230,195

$632,294

$1,432,847

$21,740,617

ANNUAL Regional ResultS

ARRESTS

CHARGES

FIREARMS

DRUGS

PROCEEDS

CALGARY

24

110

14

$937,422

$65,881

EDMONTON

17

131

45

$592,839

$272,446

FORT MCMURRAY

8

78

4

$352,942

$144,301

GRANDE PRAIRIE

7

17

13

$192,145

$31,855

LETHBRIDGE

7

29

44

$349,773

$51,245

LLOYDMINSTER

24

93

41

$164,134

$12,504

MEDICINE HAT

37

179

13

$293,108

$7,861

RED DEER

17

163

58

$2,451,800

$46,201

TOTALS

141

800

232

$5,334,163

$632,294

Organized Property Crimes | Auto Crimes

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

2023-24

2022-23

2021-22

SUSPECTS CHARGED

1

1

2

1

10

CHARGES LAID

11

47

STOLEN VEHICLES

23

15

1

6

45

245

118

RECOVERED ASSETS

$1,432,000

$941,025

$108,000

$260,000

$2,741025

$8,420,500

$3,919,500

Firearms investigations | Firearms lab & Gang suPpression teams

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

2023-24

2022-23

2021-22

FIREARMS EXAMINATIONS

349

351

243

235

1,178

EXHIBIT EXAMINATIONS

1,316

1,409

891

1,099

4,715

SERIAL NUMBER RESTORATIONS

31

34

19

24

108

IBIS SUBMISSIONS

343

421

1,334

304

2,402

GUN SEIZURES

1

14

15

SUSPECTS CHARGED

4

22

26

CHARGES LAID

41

144

185

Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) involves images and/or videos that depict the sexual abuse of minors – the majority of which involve prepubescent children. Often, CSAM involves explicit and/or extreme sexual assaults against the child victim (Cybertip.ca).

Learn more about Internet Child Exploitation and ALERT’s integrated teams combatting this issue.

Ghost Guns are illegal, privately manufactured firearms or lower receivers. These weapons are often made with 3D-printers, and undermine public safety due to their lack of licensing requirements, serialization and safety controls.

Learn more about Ghost Guns on ALERT’s dedicated Privately Manufactured Firearms info page