The San Diego County SAFE Task Force has been in operation since 2002 and continues to meet its goal to reduce sex crimes in San Diego County by pro-actively monitoring and tracking registered sex offenders, ensuring their compliance with registration requirements.

I joined the Task Force in January 2013 and was amazed at the investigations, arrests and the sex offender compliance rate of 96% this team accomplished in 2012.

The 2008 COPS Child Sexual Predator Program (CSPP) grant has helped accomplish our goals of providing training to local officers to pro-actively identify and take immediate action against offenders; we hosted a county-wide training symposium for elected officials; the grant provided overtime to ensure compliance of offenders at night and on the weekends, and we purchased equipment to enhance our monitoring and surveillance techniques. The CSPP grant expires in August 2013 and additional funds are being sought to ensure our continued success with pro-active compliance audits.

Our task force is regarded as one of the most experienced groups of law enforcement officers in the State dealing with registered sex offenders, and have been called upon numerous times to assist other counties in establishing similar task forces in their regions.

The Task Force is using the newly released San Diego Regional Sex Offender System called NetRMS, which was developed by Motorola. This system is available for all San Diego County law enforcement agencies as well as college campuses. NetRMS allows all agencies to enter information and view sex offender information regardless of the agency where the offender registered.

This team of different agencies epitomizes the future of law enforcement; a collaboration of all local resources to control the rise of sex crimes in San Diego County. Sexual predators are not confined to one city in the County and through the utilization of the Task Force model, local law enforcement is not either.

Public safety continues to be at the forefront of our mission, and I would like to take the opportunity to thank all the members of the SAFE Task Force for another exceptional year. I am proud of the dedication, commitment and the contributions each person has made to the task force. I look forward to continued success of the team and I am thankful for the opportunity to join this veteran group of investigators.

Ron Edwards, Commander
San Diego SAFE Task Force

SEXUAL ASSAULT FELONY ENFORCEMENT TASK FORCE

The San Diego County Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement (SAFE) Task Force will endeavor to effectively enforce the sex crimes and sexual exploitation laws of the State of California as expressed in the Penal Code, and any other applicable federal laws.

The SAFE Task Force targets most of its investigations toward the apprehension and monitoring of Sexual Violent Predators (SVP), 290 sexual registrants, and assistance to law enforcement agencies on active investigations of a sexual nature. The SAFE Task Force concept ensures well-coordinated enforcement efforts in our region and allows for better information sharing among the various law enforcement agencies participating in the task force program.