100 West First Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
213-486-0570
The Child Protection Section was formed as specific needs to protect children were identified. The section is comprised of the Abused Child Unit, the Sexually Exploited Child Unit, and most recently the Investigative Control Unit.
The Abused Child Unit was founded in 1974 and became the first investigative unit of its kind in the nation to dedicate specially trained officers to investigate child abuse. Today, officers investigate allegations of child physical or sexual abuse when it is suspected that the parent or legal guardian is responsible. They also investigate undetermined deaths of children under the age of 11 years and child homicides.
The Investigative Control Unit was established to handle the significant increase of suspected child abuse calls when stricter changes in the mandatory child abuse reporting laws were made. The Investigative Control Unit, is responsible for handling Citywide calls from mandated reporters and other persons who are reporting any suspected child abuse. Today, the Unit receives referrals of child abuse and documents them on the Child Abuse Tracking System (CATS), a stand-alone computer network. All calls are tracked to ensure the safety of the children.
The Sexually Exploited Child Unit interacts with outside agencies for purposes of investigation, prosecution, and training on matters of child exploitation and child pornography. The Unit has gained worldwide recognition for its “cutting edge” efforts to impact this horrific crime. Most recently, the impact of child pornography on the Internet has sent these specialized sleuths onto the World Wide Web in an effort to track preferential child molesters online.