By C. White
November 14, 2015
Wilson et al. (2006:149) recognizes that the US currently has connections to international agencies to eliminate sex trafficking, and it maintains preventive policies and federal victim assistance. But Wilson et al. argues that local law enforcement officers have more access to underground traffickers and prostitutes (as some are sex traffic victims) than federal agents. Wilson et al. (2006:150) debate that 17,784 Americas are full time police officers all over the country and they speak about conclusions in a study which reveals the need for local police (who are on “the ‘frontline’”) to perform federal agents’ work, because the local police become more aware of traffickers and sex traffic victims more often and before federal agents. Therefore, to increase the rate of sex traffic elimination, the local police need more connections with other law enforcement officers.
In a sample of 163 municipal and county police departments (Wilson et al. (2006:153-154), almost half (46%) thought that human trafficking occurred in their geographic area, even less (40%) thought it was a problem in their state, 35% viewed it as a problem for the local police, 18% thought it occurred in their jurisdiction, and 12% felt it was a major problem for their department to confront. Sixty-one percent did not think their department needed to address human trafficking and almost three-quarter (72%) felt that the problem needed to be confronted by federal agents. Three-quarter (75%) thought that the crime of human trafficking was transnational, 64% believed that large, national, organized trafficking networks were a problem, almost half (41%) thought it occurred locally, and even less (39%) assumed that traffickers do not need to be in an organization to sexually exploit women and children. Eight percent were trained to handle human trafficking, 96% were trained in domestic violence, 92% were untrained in human traffic problems, and 55% were trained to handle immigration conflicts. Seven police departments received 2.5 hours of human trafficking training, 80 police departments receive 18 hours of domestic violence training, and 46 police departments received a little over 4 (4.4) hours of immigration training.
So how much do the secretive, human trafficking surface to the public’s attention? Between 2003 and 2006, at least one human traffic investigation was made by 23% (almost one-quarter) of the 163 municipal and country police department in the study by Wilson et al. in 2006. Almost three-quarter (74%) of the 19 departments (14 out of 19) arrested people involved in human trafficking, and 98% of the departments lacked written instructions on how to handle sex trafficking cases (Wilson et al. 2006:155-156). So Wilson et al. debates that local law enforcement agencies need to more involvement in the fight against human trafficking because although the problem is transnational, the US is a top destination for sex traffic children and women (Wilson et al. 2006:158-159).
United States Department of State affirms that between 700,000 and 1 million women and children are victims of human trafficking and from this group, assumingly 50,000 are smuggled into the US. The precise amount is unknown but the victims generally are sent to live in illegitimate businesses and private homes. (Wilson et al. 2006:149-150).
US congress enforced the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) to prevent and protect human trafficking and victims, and to punish traffickers (Wilson et al. 2006:150).
References
Wilson, Deborah G, Sherilyn Kleuber, & William Walsh. 2006. “Trafficking in Human Beings: Training and Services among US Law Enforcement Agencies”. Police Practice and Research 7:149-160. doi:10.1080/15614260600676833