New iPhone App Helps Capture Sexual Predators Danielle Restuccia - VOXXI
go to original September 14, 2013

Operation Predator app targets child predators (AZNews1)

Smartphone apps like YouTube or Angry Birds are all well and good, but sometimes our phones can do more than just entertain us: they can protect us and our loved ones, too.

Agents at ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and the Cyber Crimes Center of Homeland Security Investigations recently developed a new iPhone app called Operation Predator. The app is designed to increase law enforcement’s ability to find and arrest sexual predators, especially those targeting children or minors.

Operation Predator provides photos and information on fugitives, and also gives users the possibility to submit anonymous tips leading to investigation and capture of possible sexual predators.

The Operation Predator app works, in part, by employing our vast appetite for social networking. When the app sends users an alert, it gives them the option of sharing that alert on social media sites such as Facebook or Twitter, as well as providing the option to email the alert to others.

ICE is also relying on users to share information: anyone who sees something amiss can submit that tip either on a phone or online. Operation Predator will transfer that information to ICE and help agents build a better picture of sexual predator suspects.

ICE Director of Public Affairs, Brian Hale, explained his hopes for the application: “We recognize that people receive a great deal of information on their mobile devices and we are hopeful that this app will encourage them to submit tips about suspects and to learn more about our work investigating child exploitation crimes.”

Users can be proactive, too, by using Operation Predator to look up suspected child sexual predators or review past alerts.

Why do I need Operation Predator?

According to the National Sex Offender Public Website, only 30 percent of cases involving sexual predators are reported to authorities. However, this doesn’t reflect the number of children being abused: the organization estimates that 1 in 3 girls and 1 in 7 boys in the U.S. will be abused at some point during childhood.

Within that group, the NSOPW estimates that up to 93 percent of sexual exploitation cases involve someone the child or teenager already knows. This can actually make it more difficult for bystanders to report: it can be hard to believe that a family member or neighbor is a sexual predator, and those close to the perpetrator may fear retribution for reporting questionable actions.

While Operation Predator isn’t going to totally solve this issue, it does offer an anonymous and confidential way to provide tips to ICE, potentially increasing the chances that sexual predators will be apprehended.

Currently, ICE agents are hoping for tips on a “John Doe” involved in a child pornography case.

Interpol officials discovered video files in which a man abused a 10 to 12-year-old girl, but little is known about where he might be now. The new app provides a full profile of the suspect and further details on the case so that users are aware of how they might help.

Anyone with a tip can also submit it to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which has partnered with Operation Predator.

Is Operation Predator available for other smartphones?

So far, the Operation Predator app is only available for iPhones. However, ICE plans to expand the program’s compatibility to other operating systems soon, with Android phones being the first in line.

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