Episode 152: Operation Light Shine - Jim Cole Part 1
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Jim Cole retired as a Supervisory Special Agent with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) after serving almost 35 years in government/law enforcement. Jim was elected as the Chair of the INTERPOL Specialists Group on Crimes Against Children (IPSGCAC) in 2019 having previously served as the Chair of the Victim Identification experts sub-group from 2016 - 2019.
Jim currently serves as the Chief of Law Enforcement Enterprise & Technology at Operation Light Shine where he liaises with law enforcement agencies, non-profit organizations and technology providers. Jim also serves as a Founding Partner in Onemi-Global Solutions, a consultancy focused on serving the child exploitation community.
Jim started his law enforcement career in the United States Army, investigating national security related crimes and then served as a patrol officer, general detective, narcotics detective, violent crime detective and chief of detectives for a municipal police department in Oregon before becoming a special agent with HSI. Jim investigated child sexual exploitation crimes and conducted digital forensics in the HSI Portland, Oregon office where he pioneered a victim-centric forensic and investigative workflow and methodology focused on identifying and rescuing child victims versus just arresting offenders.
In 2010, Jim was recruited to start HSI’s Victim Identification Program at the HSI Cyber Crimes Center in Fairfax, Virginia. Jim founded the HSI Victim Identification Laboratory and Program. By setting up, staffing and equipping a state-of-the-art full featured Victim Identification Laboratory, the program would go on to identify and rescue thousands of children around the globe and continues to do so today. Serving as the Section Chief for Victim Identification, Jim pioneered a variety of innovative approaches to Victim Identification working with a variety of tech providers and global law enforcement agencies.
In 2011, Jim co-founded Project VIC, a victim-centric collaborative effort between law enforcement, industry partners and a variety of NGO’s with the mission to provide technology, methodologies and workflows to increase efficiencies for law enforcement who seize massive amounts of visual media related to child sexual exploitation investigations. The realized efficiencies allow law enforcement to identify and rescue victims while reducing work stress providing significant mental health benefits.
Jim is considered a subject matter expert on child exploitation, victim identification, digital forensics technology and artificial intelligence. Jim has traveled around the globe to provide training and his expertise to numerous law enforcement agencies, NGO’s, INTERPOL, EUROPOL and CPOL. Jim helped develop the first global Victim Identification training program and numerous other courses in the area of child sexual exploitation. Jim has provided expert testimony in numerous courts around the United States and testified in Kenya for a significant first of its kind criminal case.
