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NZ Police sign up to the Virtual Global Taskforce
Friday 18 June, 2010
The Virtual Global Taskforce (VGT), welcomes the New Zealand Police as a new member, taking its current membership to eight international law enforcement agencies which are working collaboratively to combating online child abuse and exploitation.
The New Zealand Police signed the agreement to become an official member at the VGT Board of Management Meeting today in Rome.
Chair of the VGT and Australian Federal Police (AFP) Assistant Commissioner, Neil Gaughan, said the New Zealand police have been involved in numerous operations involving online child exploitation over the years and joins the United Arab Emirates in becoming a member of the VGT in 2010.
“I look forward to building on this relationship with the support of all VGT members to ensure ongoing collaboration in the pursuit of combating online sexual exploitation involving children worldwide,” Assistant Commissioner Gaughan said.
Deputy Commissioner of New Zealand Police, Rob Pope says New Zealand is committed to law enforcement in this area both locally and internationally.
"Our online child exploitation squad (OCEANZ) is dedicated to detecting online child abuse and exploitation. We have strong links with the New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs and New Zealand Customs, both integral to this work.
"We now look forward to being an active member of the VGT, and contributing to the protection of children not only in New Zealand, but wherever they are suffering at the hands of online child abusers," Deputy Commissioner Pope said.
“VGT members will not tolerate any form of child abuse anywhere in the world and will continue to work with local and overseas counterparts to arrest those behind child exploitation,” Assistant Commissioner Gaughan said.
“Online child exploitation is a borderless crime. This highlights the requirement for international collaboration and the need for law enforcement agencies to come together on a global scale to make the internet a safer place.”
The dismantling of global paedophile networks, the coordination of covert internet investigations, the sharing and developing of intelligence and the targeting of travelling sex offenders are among the global activities of the VGT in recent years.
Members of the VGT include the AFP, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (UK), INTERPOL, Italian Postal and Communication Police Service, the National Child Exploitation Coordination Centre (Canadian Mounted Police), the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The VGT is made up of law enforcement agencies from around the world, working together to fight child abuse in the online environment. In doing this, the VGT strives to build an effective, international partnership of law enforcement agencies.
The objectives of the VGT are:
- to make the Internet a safer place;
- to identify, locate and help children at risk; and
- to hold perpetrators appropriately to account.
Media enquiries
The Virtual Global Taskforce is Chaired by the AFP and as such all media enquiries should be directed to:
AFP National Media Team
Phone: (02) 6131 6333
Email: afpnationalmedia@afp.gov.au
www.virtualglobaltaskforce.com