Human Trafficking Awareness Month: Interview with Prosecutor Kevin Metcalf

This January, HSToday sat down with Founder and President of the National Child Protection Task Force, Kevin Metcalf. A former federal agent turned prosecutor, he founded the National Child Protection Task Force to bring together recognized experts in fields such as strategic legal applications, open-source intelligence, cellular mapping analysis, dark-web investigations, and cryptocurrency to help law enforcement agencies everywhere. The task force is a concept he had wanted to develop for quite a while “because nobody can be an expert in everything every day, especially a technology-heavy area like this.” The task force began to form in 2018 and, since then, others have stepped up to volunteer their expertise and resources. Through the Task Force Metcalf is involved in the recovery of missing and exploited children and the identification and apprehension of sexual predators around the world. He is an international leader in innovative approaches to synthesizing legal, closed, and open-source information to support missing person recovery and counter-human trafficking cases worldwide.

Metcalf works with a wide variety of jurisdictions to fight the criminal networks that operate under the radar of most law enforcement. These networks traffic people and often assign people specific tasks such as being a driver. They profit from the misery of other people and will do anything to make money including the transportation of guns, drugs, and people. Metcalf says while this is nothing new as far as the big picture goes, thinking purely jurisdictionally is hampering operations because a lot can be missed that way. Metcalf also developed a system for working with cell phone-related data in criminal cases that developed into a mobile device foundational course that focuses on the integration of legally derived information with open-source information.

Kristina Tanasichuk

Kristina Tanasichuk is Executive Editor of Homeland Security Today and CEO of the Government Technology & Services Coalition. She founded GTSC to advance communication and collaboration between the public and private sector in defense of our homeland.  A leader in homeland security public private partnership, critical infrastructure protection, cyber security, STEM, innovation, commercialization and much more, she brings to HSToday decades of experience and expertise in the intersection of the public and private sectors in support of our homeland's security. Tanasichuk worked for Chairman Tom Bliley on electric utility restructuring for the House Commerce Committee, represented municipal electric utilities sorting out deregulation, the American Enterprise Institute, a think tank in Washington, D.C. and ran the largest homeland security conference and trade show in the country. Immediately after 9/11 she represented public works departments In homeland security and emergency management. She is also the president and founder of Women in Homeland Security and served as president of InfraGard of the National Capital Region, a member of the Fairfax County Law Enforcement Foundation, the U.S. Coast Guard Enlisted Memorial Foundation and on the Board of USCG Mutual Assistance. She has an MPA from George Mason University and has attended the FBI and DEA Citizens Academies and the Marine Corps Executive Leadership Program. Most recently she was awarded the "Above & Beyond Award" by the Intelligence & Law Enforcement Training Seminar (INLETS) and was awarded Small Business Person of the Year by AFCEA International. Tanasichuk brings a new vision and in-depth knowledge of the federal homeland and national security apparatus to the media platform.

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