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Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Squad Participates In Human Trafficking Awareness Initiative

Publish Date 01/11/2024
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Officers from the Kansas City Missouri Police Department’s Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Squad held a news conference at South Patrol Division on January 11 to detail their participation in an initiative to fight human trafficking.

This week, during their routine random commercial vehicle inspections, officers have disseminated informational materials provided by Truckers Against Trafficking trying to raise awareness about the issue. Officers have and will continue to visit area truck stops to circulate these items to truck drivers and the general public.

“Many think that this kind of thing happens somewhere else, to someone else, but we know it occurs everywhere and impacts the lives of many right here in our own community,” said Officer Matt Phelps.  “Our mission is two-fold; one, we want to get the word out to those who might need help that there is a way out, and two, we want to give the honest, hardworking and caring commercial vehicle owners and operators the information they need to take action if and when they see this kind of thing going on.”

According to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, since its inception in 2007, it has identified 1,524 cases of human trafficking, and 3,160 victims were identified in these cases in Missouri. The hotline received 1,103 signals in 2021 from Missouri and 355 signals were from victims or survivors of human trafficking.

According to Bureau of Justice statistics, a total of 2,027 persons were referred to U.S. Attorneys for human trafficking offenses in the fiscal year 2022, a 49% increase from 2011.

  • 92% were male
  • 60% were white
  • 20% were black
  • 16% were Hispanic
  • 95% were U.S. citizens
  • 68% had no prior convictions

January 11 is Humane Trafficking Awareness Day and January is Humane Trafficking Awareness month.

 

For more statistical information, visit:

https://humantraffickinghotline.org

https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/human-trafficking-data-collection-activities-2023