Better Educating Law Enforcement on Human Trafficking: The Need for Legislation

As the world has become increasingly globalized, the movement of humans across and within borders has aided in producing the issue of human trafficking. It’s estimated that between 14,500 and 17,000 people are trafficked into the United States each year[i], but an even greater number are trafficked within our borders, with 300,000 people who are at risk of exploitation.[ii] In 2019 alone, Pennsylvania had 271 cases of human trafficking, ranking it as the state with the ninth highest case count.[iii] The sheer scope of the issue makes it more than a few isolated instances of injustice, it is a widescale issue that concerns countless human rights violations that have been largely unnoticed. In 2000, Congress passed the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, which expanded the legal definition of human trafficking and established actions to combat it at a federal level. Since the passage of the TVPA, federal agencies have been trying to play catch up in the race to end trafficking, unfortunately, state and local agencies have not made the same strides. This is the case in Pennsylvania, where the illicit trafficking flies under the radar of lower-level law enforcement agencies that have no mandated training of how to identify, report, support and investigate trafficking.[iv] In order to properly seek out and address the issue of human trafficking, Pennsylvania law enforcement agencies must be mandated to train and educate officers about how to combat and handle instances of human trafficking.

History of Legislative Attempts to Solve the Issue

The American government and its law enforcement agencies have a history of legislative shortcomings that have failed to address the scope of human trafficking within its borders, leading to misconceptions in the minds of Americans and law enforcement agents, thereby allowing the problem to persist. The first legislative act that addressed human trafficking in the United States was the Mann Act, which was passed in 1910. The human trafficking that it sought to correct, however, targeted white, female, European, immigrant, prostitutes. Congress had hoped that the act would bring an end to “white slavery,” and interracial couples, thus, giving am inadequate legislative definition.[v] Over the course of the 20^th century, legislative protections were gradually expanded to include non-white people and male children, but not male adults. With such a narrow legal definition of human trafficking, the illegal activity was able to take its roots in America. The handling of trafficking in the 20^th century also perpetuated the misbelief that trafficking was entirely involuntary and sexual in nature, when it can come in the form of sham marriages, border crossing, debt bondage or fraud.[vi]

Over time, it became increasingly evident that human trafficking was on the rise in the United States. The government was falling behind, leading Congress to nearly unanimously pass the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) in 2000, which became the foundation for anti-trafficking enforcement in the US[vii] and expanded the definition of trafficking to be “Sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such act has not attained 18 years of age;” and, importantly, “[t]he recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion.”[viii] The TVPA aimed at taking a “four pronged attack on human trafficking in the U.S.,” which sought to prevent cross-border trafficking, prosecute traffickers, protect victims in the U.S. and lastly, to provide monitoring for other nations’ involvement in trafficking.[ix] Although the TVPA was long overdue, it was the first step in the right direction, inserting the government into the messy, underground world of human trafficking.

The increased attention led to government agencies and NGOs attempting to attain an accurate scope of what human trafficking looked like in the US, especially given the expanded legal definition of trafficking.[x] This proved to be a difficult endeavor, and with little concrete data to base assumptions off of, thus, the misconceptions and shortcomings of the U.S. government in addressing human trafficking in the 20^th century have largely carried over into our current time. Perhaps most dangerous, such misconceptions have carried over into the minds of law enforcement, who are often untrained in how to address one of the most complex and hidden crimes.

Law Enforcement Blind Spots

Law enforcement, especially on the local level, tends to be the best positioned resource to combat trafficking, but the misconceptions present within agencies serves as a great barrier to justice.[xi] Ignorance exists in officers regarding something as simple as what constitutes human trafficking. One study that looked at enforcement agencies across the country found that officers definitions tended to be vague, often focusing on smuggling activities or only showed knowledge of sex trafficking.[xii] One study found that 44% of police officers were either unaware of state laws for trafficking or believed that state laws did not exist[xiii]. Currently, every state has laws criminalizing and addressing various forms of trafficking, thus, there exists a major discrepancy between legislative support and law enforcement awareness.[xiv]

Another issue stems from the misbelief among law enforcement officers regarding trafficking within their community. One study found that around 75% of enforcement officers perceive human trafficking to be “rare or non-existent” in their respective communities.[xv] Reported prevalence of trafficking doesn’t appear to change significantly depending on the type of trafficking as well.  Larger, more populous regions tended to be more aware of the presence of human trafficking within their jurisdiction.[xvi] Despite a greater concentration of trafficking instances in metropolitan areas, trafficking is nearly always a multi-jurisdictional affair, with transport, housing and exploitation taking place beyond city limits.[xvii] The very nature of trafficking is that it involves the movement of humans, thus, rural and non-metropolitan regions also experience trafficking activity. Such is the case in Central Pennsylvania, where cases have been identified in less populated regions like Lancaster, Harrisburg, Erie, Williamsport, Altoona, York, Allentown and even State College.[xviii]Cases have been reported in all 50 states, but estimates predict exponentially more victims that have not been found.[xix]

Prevalence of Training

The knowledge gaps seen within law enforcement officers can be traced back largely to the training, or lack thereof, in enforcement agencies. For the majority of agencies that were researched across the country, over 80% of them did not have training for trafficking.[xx] Prevalence of specialized personnel, training, protocols and policy became more common with bigger agencies and agencies that had task forces within them.

WithEven in many agencies that do have training, the training is often minimal, the most common form of training being a conference or seminar.[xxi] But such training is often a one-time event that often misses many of the complex nuances of trafficking. There is also a correlation between agencies that have training and policies in place and the ways in which trafficking is discovered. For agencies that do not have training or policy in place due to the perception that trafficking is not present in a given community, police rely nearly entirely on outside tips[xxii]. In agencies that have investigative training and policies, officers rely on inner agency investigating to find cases of trafficking.[xxiii] Therefore, the ignorance in identifying cases leads to police agencies over relying on civilian tips.out the presence of training, policies, protocols and resources put in place to assist prosecution are significantly under used and less effective. Police work centers around routine and protocol, but the complexity of trafficking and the lack of understanding amongst officers make routine a difficult endeavor. When asked whether or not officers were aware of written protocols or policies regarding investigating trafficking, 88.8% of agencies answered that no policies were in place.[xxiv] Without clear policies or training, trafficking cases are grouped with prostitution, since officers perceive sex work as the main form of trafficking and are more familiar with prosecuting sex work than they are finding trafficking victims. Nearly all agencies have substantial training regarding immigration law, domestic violence and prostitution, thus human trafficking is usually grouped with such related crimes. In fact, in Pennsylvania, there is a stretch of truck stops outside of Harrisburg that has an abnormally high demand for prostitutes. Prostitutes can earn up to $1,000 dollars per night, leading to increased attention from law enforcement officials hoping to prosecute prostitutes [xxv]. The focus on combatting sex work over addressing trafficking concerns. In the past couple years, there was been some success in this region as a result of collaboration between experts and federal agencies, who understood the complexity trafficking’s nature.

Results Found in Agencies That Have Implemented Training

The training of law enforcement officers about identifying, investigating and handling human trafficking is one of the most commonly recommended ways to address trafficking. The DOJ, [xxvi] Polaris Project/Human Trafficking Hotline and many other NGOs all note that this is a necessary next step[xxvii]. Pennsylvania is in a unique position, since it has a relatively comprehensive set of anti-trafficking laws that approach trafficking from many angles, in fact it’s anti trafficking legislation has some of the highest ratings nationwide.[xxviii] The high incidence of trafficking, however, indicates that there is a discrepancy between the legislative provisions and the true state of trafficking within Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania is missing one key provision that nearly all other highly rated states have: mandated training for law enforcement.[xxix] Without proper training, the other laws and protections in place cannot be used to the benefit of victims. The vast majority of highly rated states have training implemented for law enforcement, illustrating the need for such measures. Pennsylvania’s need for training is also expressed in the number of counties that have investigated cases of trafficking. When compared to the other states that had the highest number of cases, Pennsylvania ranked last in the percent of counties that investigated a case of trafficking.

This suggests that the high number of cases that are found in metropolitan areas like Pittsburgh and Philadelphia can travel through and exist in the interior of the state while avoiding the detection of law enforcement who are unaware of its existence. Other states have found success by partnering with NGOs and experts to develop proactive training protocols that teach identification practices, establish procedures, educate about statutes and demystify misconceptions. The Federal government has already found such programs, like ones from the IACP that have utilized the help of experts and NGOs.[xxx] Programs like this have proven to be effective, providing evidence to states that such actions are beneficial.

Conclusion

In order to improve the human trafficking situation in Pennsylvania and to put state statutes to their intended use, Pennsylvania must follow in the steps of other states and require proactive training for local and state law enforcement officers. The human rights violations that come along with trafficking make it too big of an issue not to address. Despite having a fairly comprehensive set of laws aimed at addressing the issue, the lack of training for law enforcement officers prevents progress from being made. With the implementation of training, Pennsylvania can make a significant step towards empowering police to be informed so that they will have the knowledge to identify and remedy an issue rooted in great injustice.

Citations

[i] “Human Trafficking: Modern Enslavement of Immigrant Women in the United States.” American Civil Liberties Union. Accessed March 31, 2021. https://www.aclu.org/other/human-trafficking-modern-enslavement-immigrant-women-united-states.

[ii] “Human Trafficking Into and Within the United States: A Review of the Literature.” ASPE, February 21, 2017. https://aspe.hhs.gov/report/human-trafficking-and-within-united-states-review-literature#Trafficking?inline-read-more.

[iii] “Pennsylvania.” National Human Trafficking Hotline. Accessed March 31, 2021. https://humantraffickinghotline.org/state/pennsylvania.

[iv] “National State Law Survey: Law Enforcement Officer Training on Human Trafficking.” Shared Hope. Accessed March 31, 2021. http://sharedhope.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/NSL_Survey_Law-Enforcement-Officer-Human-Trafficking-Training.pdf

[v] Bonilla, Tabitha, and Cecilia Hyunjung Mo. “The Evolution of Human Trafficking Messaging in the United States and Its Effect on Public Opinion: Journal of Public Policy.” Cambridge Core. Cambridge University Press, April 25, 2018. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-public-policy/article/evolution-of-human-trafficking-messaging-in-the-united-states-and-its-effect-on-public-opinion/E4EFA5D49DDCCC943856B8F07A899162.

[vi] “Myths & Facts.” National Human Trafficking Hotline, May 3, 2019. https://humantraffickinghotline.org/what-human-trafficking/myths-misconceptions.

[vii] Shana M. Judge, Blake Boursaw. “The Impact of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 on Trends in Federal Sex Trafficking Cases – Shana M. Judge, Blake Boursaw, 2018.” SAGE Journals. Accessed March 31, 2021. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0887403416655430.

[viii] “Human Trafficking.” The United States Department of Justice, November 9, 2018. https://www.justice.gov/humantrafficking.

[ix] Clawson, Heather J. “Prosecuting Human Trafficking: Lessons Learned and Promising Practices.” ojp.gov, September 2008. https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/223972.pdf.

[x] Shana M. Judge, Blake Boursaw. “The Impact of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 on Trends in Federal Sex Trafficking Cases – Shana M. Judge, Blake Boursaw, 2018.” SAGE Journals, June 24, 2016. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0887403416655430.

[xi] Farrell, Amy. “Understanding AndImproving Law Enforcement Responses to Human Trafficking, Final Report, 2008, June .” Research Gate, January 2008. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Amy-Farrell-9/publication/47463666_Understanding_and_Improving_Law_Enforcement_Responses_to_Human_Trafficking_Final_Report_2008_June/links/00b7d51efdf4d384d4000000/Understanding-and-Improving-Law-Enforcement-Responses-to-Human-Trafficking-Final-Report-2008-June.pdf.

[xii] Newton, Phyllis J. “Finding Victims of Human Trafficking.” University of Chicago, October 2008. http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.218.2468&rep=rep1&type=pdf.

[xiii] Farrell, Amy. “Identifying Challenges to Improve the Investigation and Prosecution of State and Local Human Trafficking Cases.” OJP, April 2012. https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/238795.pdf.

[xiv] Anne Teigen, Karen McInnes. Human Trafficking State Laws. Accessed March 31, 2021. https://www.ncsl.org/research/civil-and-criminal-justice/human-trafficking-laws.aspx.

[xv] https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Amy-Farrell-9/publication/47463666_Understanding_and_Improving_Law_Enforcement_Responses_to_Human_Trafficking_Final_Report_2008_June/links/00b7d51efdf4d384d4000000/Understanding-and-Improving-Law-Enforcement-Responses-to-Human-Trafficking-Final-Report-2008-June.pdf

[xvi] https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Amy-Farrell-9/publication/47463666_Understanding_and_Improving_Law_Enforcement_Responses_to_Human_Trafficking_Final_Report_2008_June/links/00b7d51efdf4d384d4000000/Understanding-and-Improving-Law-Enforcement-Responses-to-Human-Trafficking-Final-Report-2008-June.pdf

[xvii] Cross, Allison L. “Slipping Through the Cracks: The Dual Victimization of Human Trafficking Survivors.” heinonline.org, 2013. https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?collection=journals&handle=hein.journals%2Fmcglr44&id=434&men_tab=srchresults.

[xviii] “Pennsylvania Has a Human Trafficking Problem.” Pennsylvania Has a Human Trafficking Problem | PA State Rep. Steven Mentzer, January 31, 2020. http://www.repmentzer.com/News/16470/Press-Releases/Pennsylvania-Has-a-Human-Trafficking-Problem-.

[xix] https://polarisproject.org/2019-us-national-human-trafficking-hotline-statistics/

[xx] https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Amy-Farrell-9/publication/47463666_Understanding_and_Improving_Law_Enforcement_Responses_to_Human_Trafficking_Final_Report_2008_June/links/00b7d51efdf4d384d4000000/Understanding-and-Improving-Law-Enforcement-Responses-to-Human-Trafficking-Final-Report-2008-June.pdf

[xxi] Grubb, Deborah. “The Readiness of Local Law Enforcement to Engage in US Anti-Trafficking Efforts: an Assessment of Human Trafficking Training and Awareness of Local, County, and State Law Enforcement Agencies in the State of Georgia.” Taylor & Francis, February 24, 2012. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15614263.2012.662815.

[xxii] https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Amy-Farrell-9/publication/47463666_Understanding_and_Improving_Law_Enforcement_Responses_to_Human_Trafficking_Final_Report_2008_June/links/00b7d51efdf4d384d4000000/Understanding-and-Improving-Law-Enforcement-Responses-to-Human-Trafficking-Final-Report-2008-June.pdf

[xxiii] https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Amy-Farrell- 9/publication/47463666_Understanding_and_Improving_Law_Enforcement_Responses_to_Human_Trafficking_Final_Report_2008_June/links/00b7d51efdf4d384d4000000/Understanding-and-Improving-Law-Enforcement-Responses-to-Human-Trafficking-Final-Report-2008-June.pdf

[xxiv] https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15614263.2012.662815

[xxv] Jeremy M. Wilson, Erin Dalton. “Human Trafficking in the Heartland: Variation in Law Enforcement Awareness and Response – Jeremy M. Wilson, Erin Dalton, 2008.” SAGE Journals, January 1, 1970. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1043986208318227.

[xxvi] “2019 Trafficking in Persons Report – United States Department of State.” U.S. Department of State. U.S. Department of State, March 9, 2021. https://www.state.gov/reports/2019-trafficking-in-persons-report/.

[xxvii] https://polarisproject.org/

[xxviii] “2014 State Ratings on Human Trafficking Laws.” Polaris Project, July 31, 2014. https://polarisproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/2014-State-Ratings.pdf.

[xxix] https://polarisproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/2014-State-Ratings.pdf

[xxx] “Anti-Human Trafficking Training and Technical Assistance.” International Association of Chiefs of Police. Accessed March 31, 2021. https://www.theiacp.org/projects/anti-human-trafficking-training-and-technical-assistance.