"In the era of scarce resources we have to prioritize and allocate those resources accordingly, so all the help we can get from the public will only make us that much more effective," Mike Prado from Homeland Security Investigations said.
Investigators always need tips, but this particular agency focuses on child predators, and sometimes agents can't identify some of the worst offenders.
"Often times in these investigations we find videos or pictures of individuals actively abusing children with their faces in full display but we have no idea who these people are," Pardo said.
The app will feature a number of suspects, some have names and faces and some are called John Doe.
"We have no idea what this man's name is but we know he's repeatedly sexually abused a child," Pardo said.
The free app publicizes faces and information. Investigators hope the public will share knowledge as a way to help catch sexual predators.
"It's not just an app where the public receives information, it's an app where the public can provide information, it's a two way sharing of information that will ultimately be very useful," Pardo said.
Homeland Security Investigations is the first federal agency to issue an app of this kind, which they say immediately puts priority on child exploitation investigations, and does so through changing technology.
Homeland Security Investigations hopes that the public will be their eyes and ears, in every corner of the world.
