CETS

A rather derelict building in Malta. But the detail in the architecture is marvelous.
I am loading this as a photo to accompany a copy of page 2 of an article about aProgram for Police used as a tracking system for internet child exploiters and abusers. Anything that can assist the Police in this is well worth whatever it costs us in tax dollors.

System targets internet abusers

By Rob Shaw

Times Colonist Staff

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A Saanich police officer with high-tech computer prowess and experience investigating child crimes is putting his unique skill to use in Ottawa managing the RCMP’s cutting-edge Child Exploitation Tracking System.

It is a lot of work, far away from home, but Arnold Guerin calls it one of the best jobs on the force.

“I love it” said the Saanich constable. “My background is in technology and I love being a police officer. This marries the two, and I feel like I’m not actively investigating case files I am assisting investigators.”

The 34 year old has one of the most unusual jobs in the field of child exploitation policing. He’s on loan to the RCMP from Saanich for two years.

The Child Exploitation Tracking System (CETS) is a special national database. It lets police cross-reference data such as names, addresses, websites, e-mails, and partial descriptions of child exploitation suspects and cases.

Microsoft started working on the system in 2003 after company chairman Bill Gates received an e-mail from Toronto Police Det. Sgt. Paul Gillespie asking for help in battling online child abuse.

Microsoft donated more than $2.5 million worth of work into custom-designing the program. The Canadian-inspired technology was rolled out to 29 policing agencies across the country starting last year.

Guerin manages the program, designs the national policy and travels the country to train investigators on how to use the system. The RCMP provides a free terminal for every five officers working child exploitation in a detachment. They are dedicated boxes, beefed up with extra RCMP security.

The CETS program looks essentially like a website – a simple façade that conceals a sophisticated and robust database, along with features for investigators to communicate securely on cases.

“It is very easy to learn,” said Guerin. “I tell them if you can order something on Chapters.ca that’s how easy it is to use CETS.”

CETS doesn’t actually store child abuse images or videos, instead it indexes case files, evidence and suspects. “CETS isn’t going to solve crime, police officers solve crime,” said Guerin. “CETS is the tool that allows them to bring their investigation a little bit further than had they not been sharing the information. It’s the police officer that really puts that together.”

The former Ladysmith resident trained on computers at Nanaimo’s Malaspina University College. He worked as an aboriginal fisheries and police officer before landing with Saanich police six years ago. Like many Saanich investigators, he put in a three year stint with the child abuse unit. He noticed police reacting to more child exploitation cases as the Internet became more popular.

“We can’t blame the internet for that,” said Guerin. “The internet is not the evil here, it is the tool and people are exploiting that tool to get access to children for sex. The technology has become so available to people, but none of the responsibility comes with it.”

Guerin applied immediately when, in early 2005, he heard of an opportunity at the RCMP National Child Exploitation Co-ordination Centre in Ottawa.

“I said, ‘I could do this job, it’s right up my alley, and this is what I’ve been training to do.” Guerin’s boss, Insp. John Charlton, was enthusiastic because he’d followed the system’s development closely.

“We were interested right from the get-go because we have a three-person child abuse team here and we knew child abuse and internet child exploitations was more than an emerging trend,” said Charlton, who is in charge of the Saanich detective division.

“Saanich is a progressive department, they see the opportunity to let one of their police officers go for a few years and come back with a wealth of experience,” said Guerin.

His four-year-old daughter, and wife, have enjoyed living in Ottawa because it is close to family in Quebec, he said. Guerin returns to Saanich next September.

“I’ll probably be driving a patrol car – in Saanich all roads lead to patrol,” he joked. “That’s not to say my experience is wasted. At some point there will be other opportunities. But I expect to be back in uniform, and I’m kind of looking forward to it.”