Clarification of Australian Federal Police of information sharing between agencies during Project Spade/Operation Thunderer | WPN World People News

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) can confirm it received the original referral from the Toronto Police Service on 23 April, 2012.

The information received consisted of a large amount of incomplete and commercial billing material which required assessment, validation and further investigation. It also required a decryption password to access the material, which was not obtained until July 2012.

The AFP High Tech Crime Operations (HTCO) area receives more than 3,800 reports of people accessing this type of material per year, and at this time was investigating a number of large, complex matters of an international nature involving the production of child exploitation material and children at immediate risk of harm.

When a matter is referred to the AFP, the HTCO team uses a risk assessment model to assess the new information. Where material indicating children may be at risk is evident, the matter is actioned immediately. No such information was evident in the original referral from the Toronto Police Service.

The AFP distributed the refined material to state and territory police in May, June and July 2013 for overt investigation.

The AFP acknowledges that the assessment of the information in this case took some time to thoroughly validate, develop potential target packages and disseminate to state and territory law enforcement. These matters are operational judgements made by experienced police officers and based on relative priority and competing cases.

During the resolution phase of this case, a number of children were removed from danger in WA and the ACT. This action was taken after new material was discovered during the 103 search warrants conducted by the AFP and state and territory police.

The AFP Commissioner has directed that an operational debrief be held with all Australian agencies involved in this investigation to identify any lessons that can be learned for the future, and to ensure that cross jurisdictional collaboration is maximised.

source: Australian Federal Police