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The Sacramento Valley Hi-Tech Crimes Task Force (SVHTCTF), a division of the Sacramento Sheriff’s Department, was initially proposed in May 1995. It was a concept developed by five local detectives, a prosecutor, and seven loss prevention managers from local high technology businesses located in the greater Sacramento Valley. The vision of the SVHTCTF was to address the escalation of criminal activities related to the utilization of computers and high technology to commit traditional crimes via high technology means.

On December 12, 1995, then Undersheriff Lou Blanas officially recognized the SVHTCTF by donating office space to the Task Force in the Sheriff’s Work release facility. At that time, the Task Force consisted of a sheriff’s sergeant, six detectives, and one county prosecutor. Within a year, the Task Force added an additional four investigators.

Today, ten years later, the Task Force includes 32 local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies encompassing the 34 counties of the Eastern Judicial District of the state of California. A satellite operation, managed by the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department, was officially dedicated in June 2001.

In March 1999 the Task Force became the recipient of grant funds and support from the Governor’s Office of Criminal Justice Planning via the High Technology Theft Apprehension and Prosecution Program (SB 1734-Johnston).  Grant funds have enabled the SVHTCTF to aggressively pursue crimes against the state of California that have incurred $498 million in tax revenue loss and an additional $4.2 billion in industry loss as cited in the High Technology Theft Apprehension and Prosecution Programs 2000 Annual Report. Without this support, the Task Force would not have been able to expand the scale and scope of investigations, service area, or develop and maintain a highly trained, skilled, and mobile investigative force.

In October 1999, the SVHTCTF was reorganized and recognized as a separate division within the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department. The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department Hi-Tech Crimes Division is under the command of a Sheriff’s Captain. The Division has 64 employees housed in a facility designed with state-of-the-art computer forensic labs and is equipped with four computer-training stations. The focus of the equipment used in investigations is to combat the proliferation of computer/high technology crimes; telecommunications fraud; crimes against children; identity thefts; and the recovery/analysis of digital evidence.

Through collaborative partnerships from within the region’s law enforcement community and the support from Sheriff Lou Blanas and Governor Gray Davis, the SVHTCTF is nationally recognized as the standard for the high technology task force concept.

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