Doing justice

As an award-winning special agent with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Zachary Neefe ’09 spends his days protecting children and targeting predators. A criminal justice major at Roanoke, he spent time as a patrol officer and detective before joining HSI. He is also a member of the Invictus Task Force, a criminal justice instructor, and Nationally Registered Emergency Medical Technician.

Q: How would you describe your Roanoke College experience in a nutshell? 

A whirlwind! I moved from Michigan to attend Roanoke, met my future wife, participated in all sorts of Chaplain’s Office activities, worked at Fintel Library and lived for six months in Mexico through a student exchange program.

Q: What’s something you learned in college that you had no idea would be so important in life?

As an exchange student living in Mexico, I learned language skills, interactions in a completely different culture, and valuing different perspectives on controversial issues. Law enforcement officers encounter unique situations every day, so it’s been a hugely valuable skill set to be able to get along with people that are different than me.

Q: What advice would you give current Roanoke students interested in a similar career path?

Build out your resume with practical experiences and classes outside the stereotypical criminal justice curriculum. Consider majoring/minoring in a foreign language, computer science or something in medicine. I’ve since gone back to school and am now a Nationally Registered Emergency Medical Technician (NREMT). I wish I had gone back to school for this training years ago!

Q: Do you have a favorite Roanoke College memory or a person who was a mentor to you at Roanoke?

I am so grateful for all the staff and faculty at Roanoke! I’m going to miss someone for sure, but a few names that come to mind include Librarian Hany Hosny, Dr. and Mrs. Blaha, Jesse Griffin, Chaplain Paul Henrickson, Scott Yeager, Dining Services Paul, Melissa Lacombe, Dr. Dolores Flores-Silva, Instructor Claire Staniunas, and Instructor Diane Brogan.

Q: Why did you choose to go into law enforcement? And why child exploitation investigations specifically?

 I knew from an early age that I wanted to be a police officer. As a patrol officer around 2012ish, I located a runaway girl who I later learned was being sexually abused by her father. This incident opened my eyes to familial abuse and indirectly was a segue into child exploitation investigations.

Q: What was your path to becoming a Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent?

I was blessed with an opportunity to work as a cross-sworn HSI task force officer (TFO) with a local sheriff’s office prior to putting in an application to “go fed.” Our agency’s TFOs function as liaisons between federal investigations and state/local interests, so working as a TFO was the perfect place to learn more about HSI and the job duties of a special agent. I put in an application during the April 2019 direct hire announcement and was fortunate enough to make it back to the same office where I worked previously as a task force officer.

Q: What are some of the biggest challenges in this type of work? 

Mental health is a huge challenge because normal human beings are not wired to watch brutal videos of children being violently sexually assaulted, but it’s an essential part of prosecuting offenders as well as identifying victims. Keeping up with technology is also a challenge as the apps and messaging platforms that kids (and offenders alike) use to communicate are constantly changing.

Q: Is there such a thing as a “typical day” in your job? 

Not really. I might be pumping out administrative subpoenas for our local Invictus Child Exploitation Task Force one day to locate offenders and victims, then the next day helping with the execution of a child exploitation search warrant. We also proactively go after offenders through undercover chat operations and enforcement actions targeting the file sharing/distribution of child sexual abuse material, so those operations take up significant time with planning and research.

Q: How have child exploitation crimes evolved over time; is there anything that might surprise people who don’t know much about this activity? 

Crimes involving the sexual abuse of children have always existed under current definitions; however, the rise in technology has enabled the memorialization of sexual abuse forever. Child sexual abuse material imagery is quite literally the recording of a violent crime against a child as it progresses. What might surprise people is that images/videos from 30 years ago still regularly circulate on the internet despite the victims no longer being children and, in some cases, having children of their own. This is a crime that lives in infamy forever.

Q: What would you want the public – particularly parents – to know about child exploitation? 

As a parent myself, I have to constantly remember to walk that balancing act between being too cautious and allowing too much freedom. My experience as an investigator, and now academic research, reminds me that the threat to our children is not the creepy white van with the guy handing out candy. We must now be ever-vigilant with our children’s online activities, chat platforms, and in-game messaging, as that’s where today’s child exploitation offenders have gone to victimize kids.

Q: Is there a particular case – or cases – that it felt especially fulfilling to be involved in?

There is no greater reward for me than to work a case where a child has been removed/rescued from a home where abuse was actively taking place, either through the offender being arrested or by other interventions. I’ve been a part of many of these cases and it never gets old. Our task force has arrested pastors, law enforcement officers, firefighters, teachers and other offenders in positions of public trust, which is also hugely fulfilling as they oftentimes hide behind their status and reputation as a means of concealing their continued abuse of society’s most vulnerable populations.

Q: How has this work changed how you see the world, or yourself? 

I have to check myself constantly to prevent despair or fatalism. I am an optimistic person by nature, but it’s easy to get down when you see the worst of society. I lean heavily on my family, our church community, and my fellow law enforcement officers to keep grounded with my worldview.

Q: How do you keep the psychological impact of this work from taking a toll on you or seeping into your personal life? 

At the advice of mental health professionals that I have come to respect, I have developed daily rituals, such as a “transition” period in the car and a “cooling off” period when I get home from work. My drive home transition may involve a captivating podcast, country music or conversation with God about the day. Once home, I cool off by literally taking off my badge and gun to switch from agent mode to dad/husband mode.

Q: What do you like to do to let off steam outside of work? 

I enjoy vigorous exercise, including running and hiking. If it’s winter, you’ll likely find me at a local ski resort enjoying a day on the mountain with friends/family or volunteering as a medical first responder with Wintergreen Ski Patrol. Being outside with my fellow ski patrollers and giving back so that others can have fun on the slopes brings me great joy.

Q: What is something a lot of people don’t know about you? 

As a kid, we moved quite frequently, so despite now calling Central North Carolina home, by my best estimates, I have lived in 10 states for a year or longer. If you count work-related temporary assignments (a month or more), that number jumps up to 13.

Q: Favorite food/book/band? 

My favorite food is North Carolina BBQ (Lexington-style, which is pork shoulder smoked overnight with a vinegar/ketchup sauce) with hushpuppies on the side. My favorite book is “Hollywood Station” by Joseph Wambaugh, and my favorite musician is George Strait.

Do you know a Maroon we should feature in this space? Nominate them by emailing rcmagazine@roanoke.edu.