Magnet Spotlight: How the LAPD ICAC Unit is Tackling Child Exploitation

By founder & CTO, Jad Saliba 

One of my biggest motivating factors in seeing Magnet Forensics succeed over the years was to make sure we could truly achieve our mission to seek justice and protect the innocent. I’ve worked with so many agencies over the years and heard about a lot of successes, roadblocks, and above all stories—both heartwarming and horrific.  

Of course, some of the most heinous activity is seen day in and day out by the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task forces in many agencies. But their relentless drive to do everything they can to save children and get predators is incredibly inspiring. No matter the toll it can take (and it can definitely take a heavy toll), time and again, these teams talk about how worthy it is to help these children who are suffering the most unimaginable abuse. 

Putting a Spotlight on the LAPD ICAC Unit 

“Our focus is catching the worst of the worst and protecting as many kids as we can.” – Lisette Garcia, Detective, LAPD 

A little while back, I really wanted to shine a light on those people that are doing the work. To show not only why they do it and what keeps them doing it, but to actually see them in action—putting themselves on the line in the name of justice. 

I reached out to Maurice Kwon, a detective supervisor in the Los Angeles Police Department’s ICAC unit to see if he’d be up for having us along to tell their story. I’m thankful to Maurice for being our guide along the way, as we got to see the execution of a warrant up close. We got to see the firm yet humane approach that went into speaking to (and interrogating) the suspect and the sheer volume of devices that the team had to triage right on scene (and then take back to the lab for further investigation.) We also got to talk to the team about their experience on the ICAC task force—getting a sense from them about what parents should be doing to protect their kids from the unique modern challenges that plague them. 

This video is the result of that process and I hope it gives a little insight into the reality these teams are facing every day. At Magnet Forensics, we consider ourselves unbelievably lucky to be able to count teams like this as our customers and our friends and we’re proud to be able to help them in any way we can.

We hope to share more stories in the future, but for now, please take a few minutes to see what goes into fighting child exploitation within the Los Angeles Police Department. Thank you to the team for trusting us to tell your story.