Award Information
Description of original award (Fiscal Year 2012, $199,961)
This program is authorized by the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012 (Pub. L. 112-55) and informed by section 401 of Public Law 110-403, which authorizes the Department to provide funding to support state and local intellectual property enforcement efforts. The Intellectual Property Theft Enforcement Program is designed to provide national support and improve the capacity of state, local, and tribal criminal justice systems to address intellectual property criminal enforcement, including prosecution, prevention, training, and technical assistance. This program is generally informed by section 401 of Public law 110-403, which authorizes the Department to provide funding to support state and local intellectual property crime enforcement efforts.
The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department shall be the administrative agency for the Intellectual Property Theft Enforcement Program. Funds will be used to add two additional detectives working full-time in the Cyber Crimes Section. Both detectives will investigate groups and individuals who unlawfully reproduce and distribute infringing copies of copyrighted work in the St. Louis Metropolitan area.
Program objectives include: (1) add two additional detectives to the Major Fraud/Cyber Crimes Section to investigate intellectual property crimes; (2) increase the number of new investigations into the distribution of counterfeit consumer goods from stores and markets in and around the St. Louis Metropolitan area; (3) conduct investigations of networks distributing pirated movies, software, and music on the Internet from locations in the St. Louis Metropolitan area; (4) work with community entities to educate the public on intellectual property laws; and (5) work closely with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, the local Federal Bureau of Investigation, local law enforcement agencies surrounding the City of St. Louis, the St. Louis Circuit Attorney's Office, and the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Eastern District of Missouri in order to prosecute the new cases generated by the unit.
CA/CF