Protecting Children Online

While most people are familiar with traditional policing, the majority of online work done by officers from our Internet Child Exploitation (I.C.E.) Unit is lesser known, despite the unit being in existence for over 15 years.

Made up of seven constables and a detective, the I.C.E. Unit scours the internet with the goal of protecting children in our community. Often times these investigations lead officers to the darkest parts of the web, where they try to identify suspects that are attempting to exploit children for their own benefit.

While child exploitation investigations are difficult, the investigators that work in this unit are dedicated to protecting children and to reducing the supply and demand for child sexual abuse materials, through a coordinated approach to enforcement and ensuring the successful prosecution of those accused of exploitation related crimes. In 2018, the I.C.E. Unit investigated nearly 200 incidents of child exploitation and child sexual abuse material with charges laid in many of those incidents.

Serving as a proud member of the Ontario Provincial Strategy with 26 law-enforcement partners across the globe, along with partnerships with many local organizations, such as the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, officers from Peel Regional Police actively work with various groups across the region to educate youth and their families, on prevention tips and how to stay safe online.

For more information on how to stay safe online, visit our website at PeelPolice.ca.