Did you know that not every police person is trained to spot and rescue victims of child sex trafficking? It's true. But police officers often come across victims and we must demand they are all trained to spot a victim and rescue them.
Sign on if you want a federal law requiring all police departments to train their officers to spot the signs of child sex trafficking.A new
program was created in 2009 to try to train police to identify situations and behaviors that could mean there is a child sex trafficking victim. Some of the common signs are a older man and a much younger woman, unrelated, traveling together or drugs involved to keep victims docile. Often when victim's suitcases are searched, police will find condoms, lubricant and lingerie innapropriate for a child's age.
This may seem like a no-brainer, but because cops are so focused on other things, they miss the signs. For example, a man and young woman may get pulled over and have marijuana, so the police may focus on that and treat the intoxicated and victimized child like a criminal for posessing and using drugs. But if they truly knew what to look for, this mistake would not be so painfully common.
Rescuing child victims should be a top priority for every police force. Sign if you agree and want to see this training programs mandated nationwide. Right now the program is running in some states, like Texas, and hundreds of children have been rescued as a result. But traffickers will just travel through different states to avoid savvy cops. That's why we need every state and every officer to know what to look for.
