OPP’s Dark Web Disruption Team Awarded the 2026 OACP Excellence in IT Services Award

Media Release

Ontario Provincial Police’s Dark Web Disruption Team Awarded the 2026 OACP Excellence in Information Technology Services Award

For Immediate Release: June 4, 2026

(Niagara, ON) – The Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police (OACP) is pleased to announce that the Ontario Provincial Police’s (OPP) Dark Web Disruption Team is the recipient of the 2026 OACP Excellence in Information Technology Services Award.

This award is presented in recognition of the accomplishments of police agencies who have leveraged technology in the development and introduction of a significant initiative that proved to be “a gamechanger” for the organization and/or the policing community.

The Dark Web Disruption Team is a technology‑led initiative within the OPP’s Child Sexual Exploitation Unit, with a mandate to find and stop high‑risk offenders who hide on the dark web. Detective Sergeant Erick Pinkerton and Detective Constable Jonathan Hosick built a precise, intelligence‑driven enforcement model to meet this challenge, protect children, and uphold Canadian law through just and evidence‑based action.

Innovation is the cornerstone of this project. In its first year, the team designed and implemented investigative processes built specifically for encrypted, hidden online environments. It created and integrated a new Technology Support Specialist role to close a critical skills gap, allowing detectives to lawfully analyze encrypted traffic, find weaknesses in hidden services, and deanonymize high risk offenders. These advances allow timely, defensible enforcement actions that were not previously possible. D/Sgt. Pinkerton and D/Sgt. Hosick  also formalized data‑driven workflows and partnered closely with the German National Police, the Australian Federal Police, and U.S. Homeland Security to execute coordinated, cross‑border operations.

In 2025, the outcomes were significant and measurable as the team-led enforcement dismantled major dark web child abuse sites. Working with international partners, the team helped identify and rescue victimized children leading to multiple arrests in Ontario and abroad. These results show the team’s ability to detect, disrupt, and dismantle international exploitation networks while maintaining impartial, evidence‑based practices. Other police services are now adopting elements of this approach, with members being invited to present in Australia and the Netherlands, gaining them international recognition.

Through the Dark Web Disruption Team, D/Sgt. Pinkerton and D/Sgt. Hosick strengthened Ontario’s Provincial Strategy to Protect Children from Sexual Abuse and Exploitation on the Internet by delivering new technology and expanding on current roles and processes that raise the standard of service, increase child protection, and enhance public safety.

This annual award is made possible by the generous support from Magnet Forensics.

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For more information, contact: 

Dr. José Luís (Joe) Couto

Director of Strategic Initiatives, Research, and Corporate Communications

C. (416) 919-9798

E. media@oacp.ca

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