The Brooklyn Park Police Department said its new artificial intelligence software is transforming how quickly investigators can process digital evidence in child exploitation and violent\u2011crime cases, turning what used to take weeks into just hours.<\/p>\n
RELATED: Brooklyn Park police get funds to speed up child exploitation cases<\/a><\/p>\n Sgt. Jake Tuzinski said the system can scan thousands of images at once and instantly surface anything visually similar to weapons, faces, backgrounds or potential victims.<\/p>\n \u201cOut of 200,000 photos, if I miss one or something, I can hit enter, and it\u2019s going to find me everything that\u2019s visually similar,\u201d Tuzinski said.<\/p>\n The software flags images that haven\u2019t been reviewed yet and prompts investigators to categorize them. For child exploitation cases, investigators can tag victims and search for visually similar images across a suspect\u2019s phone or cloud data.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019ll start finding similar matches based on face, skin tone, clothing, background, all that stuff,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Before this technology, going through a full phone extraction could take a week. Now, Tuzinski says, \u201cwe can rip through it in an hour or two.\u201d<\/p>\n He said the department has used the software in about 10 cases so far \u2014 half involving violent weapon crimes, the other half crimes against children. In one recent case, investigators discovered a second child victim through images found on the first victim\u2019s phone.<\/p>\n The tool has also reopened stalled weapons cases, uncovering illegal machine\u2011gun parts, geolocation data and additional suspects.<\/p>\n RELATED: Governor Walz signs bill restricting AI-generated intimate images<\/a><\/p>\n Tuzinski said the technology is especially important as online exploitation grows, and as Minnesota prepares to enforce a new law banning AI\u2011generated child sexual abuse material, signed this Thursday by Gov. Tim Walz. The law takes effect Aug. 1, 2026.<\/p>\n What the faster process means for victims<\/p>\n Tuzinski said the speed isn\u2019t just about efficiency; it directly affects child safety, charging decisions and whether victims are protected from further harm.<\/p>\n He said prosecutors often need a certain number of images to meet statutory charging thresholds, especially in child exploitation cases. The new system helps investigators find those images quickly so charges can be filed while suspects are still in custody.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you talk about charging somebody in custody versus out of custody, we obviously want to keep them away and separate and keep them incarcerated so they don\u2019t have the ability to reoffend,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He said the faster turnaround also helps uncover victims who may not have come forward yet.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of times we\u2019ll find ancillary victims that we didn\u2019t know about,\u201d Tuzinski said. \u201cMaybe they don\u2019t have the right support system to bring it forward, or anybody in their life who cares or thinks it matters.\u201d<\/p>\n And for families, he said, the difference is life\u2011changing.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have one of the most heinous crimes happen against a family member, and then you culminate that with sometimes months to a year before you even hear anything about it,\u201d he said. \u201cThey really feel like they\u2019ve just been left behind.\u201d<\/p>\n With the new system, he said, investigators can now get cases charged in less than a week.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can put a strong, prosecutable case in front of an attorney,\u201d he said. \u201cThat means a lot to the families,\u00a0to see that we take what they report very seriously and we\u2019re not going to let somebody off the hook for this.\u201d<\/p>\n CornerHouse says faster image removal helps children heal sooner<\/p>\n At\u00a0CornerHouse<\/a>, a Minneapolis-based organization that provides services for kids and families who\u2019ve experienced child abuse, Executive Director Christy Shannon said the speed of Brooklyn Park\u2019s new technology could directly impact a child\u2019s mental health and safety.<\/p>\n \u201cIf kids who have been sexually exploited online are able to get abusive images taken down sooner, they can begin healing faster,\u201d Shannon said. \u201cThere\u2019s a higher risk with suicide in recent years in line with all of the developments online and online exploitation of children.\u201d<\/p>\n CornerHouse provides forensic interviews, advocacy, mental\u2011health services and community training for families experiencing abuse. Shannon says families often need reassurance and resources as they navigate police investigations.<\/p>\n \u201cFamilies need a lot of support in what resources are available to them, and hearing that they\u2019re not alone,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Shannon said they are seeing more cases where adults pose as children on gaming or social platforms, extorting kids for images or money.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve definitely seen an increase in that kind of exploitation in recent years,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd the acute mental\u2011health crises that kids can be in because of it.\u201d<\/p>\n CornerHouse works with multiple law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, on online exploitation cases.<\/p>\n \u201cI would say there\u2019s probably been at least a 10% increase in the last couple of years where we\u2019ve had cases that we\u2019re working with the FBI on,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Shannon said delays in digital evidence processing can worsen the trauma.<\/p>\n \u201cIf kids know that there\u2019s images out there of them, that fuels their anxiety,\u201d Shannon said. \u201cIt can have reputational damage as well as mental\u2011health implications.\u201d<\/p>\n Shannon also supports Minnesota\u2019s new ban on AI\u2011generated child\u00a0sexual abuse material, saying it adds another layer of protection for kids.<\/p>\n She urges parents to stay aware of what their children are doing online and to create an environment where kids feel safe coming forward.<\/p>\n \u201cIf they suffer alone with that information, that\u2019s where we see a lot of the mental\u2011health crises,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n CornerHouse offers training for youth and adults on recognizing online exploitation, as well as a community call line at 612\u2011813\u20118320 for families seeking help.<\/p>\n Shannon said the prevalence of abuse is far more common than many realize.<\/p>\n \u201cOne\u00a0in four girls and one in 13 boys experience sexual abuse by the time they\u2019re 18,\u201d she said. \u201cSexual exploitation would fall into that.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFor Related Stories:\u00a0AI<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Artificial Intelligence<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Brooklyn Park Police<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Brooklyn Park Police Department<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Child Sexual Exploitation<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Kamaria Braye<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Brooklyn Park Police Department said its new artificial intelligence software is transforming how quickly investigators can process…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":225474,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[3250,66,98,100,99,32648,7902,88632,34611,9,24,63],"class_list":["post-225473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-brooklyn-park-police","tag-brooklyn-park-police-department","tag-child-sexual-exploitation","tag-kamaria-braye","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=225473"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225473\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/225474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=225473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=225473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=225473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}