The SEMO Cyber Crimes Task Force was created as a result of a vision that Poplar Bluff Police Chief Danny Whiteley, had for not only his department, but for the Southeast Missouri area in general.  Chief Whiteley saw the rate of internet related crimes rising in quantum leaps yearly, and thus set forth with the mission to aggresively combat these crimes, specifically targeting computer crimes against our children.  In 2006, Chief Whiteley affiliated the Poplar Bluff Police Department with the Missouri Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.  As many of the cases resulted in suspects in numerous jurisdictions outside the Poplar Bluff area, Chief Whiteley decided a regional task force would be beneficial in combating these crimes, much like the success that the SEMO Drug Task Force had from forming a regional task force to combat the area drug problem.  Chief Whiteley states, "Due to the increasing rate of computer crimes, and the tremendous threats which the internet poses to our youth, it becomes necessary for this agency to keep pace with the technological advancements being made by criminals by preparing ourselves to investigate crimes where computers are used, and with the inception of the SEMO Cyber Crimes Task Force, area law enforcement will be able to pull from a wide variety of resources, thus effectively increasing our success rate with these crimes." 

Because of the technical complexities associated with computer related crimes and evidence, and limitations of personnel and training, the SCCTF was formed to provide an organized pool of personnel and resources from a variety of participating agencies.

Similar to the Butler County Major Case Squad, SCCTF provides requesting law enforcement agencies with required manpower and technical and legal assistance to investigate computer related crime. In addition, the SCCTF will assist in the search and seizure of computer related  evidence; including forenic examination and analysis, and the investigation of Internet related crimes. It is the primary responsibility of the requesting agency to handle prosecution resulting from the assistance. Hand-in-hand with increased use of computers in the home and in business, criminals and criminal enterprises have also embraced computers.  Just as in other uses, these machines enhance the organization, productivity, and communications of criminal organizations, ultimately affecting their "bottom line." As a result, we have seen much more computer crime in recent years. 

Our mission is to provide the capability to respond to complaints of crimes against children that involves the use of computers and technology, to enhance arrests where computers or digital evidence is a factor in the crime, and to preserve the integrity of seized digital evidence.

The SCCTF is headquartered out of the Poplar Bluff Missouri Police Department.