The trainings and resources listed here are provided at no cost to criminal justice officials by
various components of the U.S. Department of Justice and other U.S. federal agencies.
Trainings
Bureau of Justice Assistance-funded Trainings
Human Trafficking Basic Awareness Training for Law Enforcement
Agencies now can access the online version of the basic Introduction to Human Trafficking training course. The web-based, multimedia lessons include an audio presentation track, instructional graphics and text, and interactive learning. The information is broken down into two separate lessons.
Class 1 – Awareness of Human Trafficking This class is an overview of the problem of human trafficking in the United States. Its emphasis is on understanding the scope of the problem and the legal framework in place to help address it.
Class 2 – Responding to Human Trafficking This class is an overview of the basics of law enforcement response to human trafficking situations. Its emphasis is on adopting a victim-centered approach to achieve successful conclusions in trafficking cases, to include victim rescue and care and trafficker prosecution.
Human Trafficking in Native American Communities
Human Trafficking in Native American communities is a significant and expanding problem that includes sex trafficking and forced labor. The unique, independent structure of these communities contributes to complex cultural and jurisdictional issues for tribal, state, and federal law enforcement agencies in combatting these crimes. These courses are designed to bring together tribal law enforcement, tribal leaders, and community stakeholders to address the issue of human trafficking in Indian Country. The curricula are designed to raise awareness to the problem and increase the capacity to address the problem.
Tribal Youth Peer-to-Peer Human Trafficking in Indian Country Prevention Curriculum
The Youth Peer-to-Peer course, provides resources and training to adults who serve tribal youth to assist them in educating youth about the risks of human trafficking and help youths develop skills to help keep them from becoming victims.
Human Trafficking Advanced Investigative Training
The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) through the Upper Midwest Community Policing Institute (UMCPI) offers this three-day course designed for law enforcement officers, investigators, and human trafficking task force members who are assigned to investigate human trafficking cases through advanced intelligence collection, development, and dissemination. Special emphasis is placed on investigation skill development and an enhanced case coordination and collaborative model, with an understanding that the victim is the key focus of case coordination dynamics. The use of case studies throughout the curriculum graphically illustrates successful case management.
Note: All of the above trainings are offered at no-cost to participants. Opportunities are available to host the trainings in your area. For additional information, visit the UMCPI web site.
Human Trafficking Training for State Prosecutors
This training is designed to familiarize prosecutors and their law enforcement partners with their own state laws regarding human trafficking. Included are an overview of human trafficking, an introduction to the legal framework—international, national, and state—regarding trafficking in persons, partnership models, victim issues, investigatory and interviewing techniques, and prosecutorial theories and practices. The second day is a workshop only for prosecutors with an ethics discussion based on a human trafficking case study. (This training was developed in association with the National Attorneys General Training and Research Institute.)
Trainings Funded by the Office for Victims of Crimes
OVC TTAC Customized Training and Technical Assistance Resources to Combat Human Trafficking
The Office for Victims of Crime Training and Technical Assistance Center (OVC TTAC) provides practitioner-driven, evidence-based training and technical assistance to a variety of stakeholders to enhance the ability to serve crime victims. Audiences include anti-trafficking task forces, law enforcement, victim service providers, and other allied professionals. OVC TTAC offers tailored, on-site consultations and trainings upon request, professional development scholarships, crime victim scholarships, and online resources. TTA offerings focus on developing a strong knowledge base about trafficking, building capacity by teaching best practices and skills for identifying victims, addressing victims’ needs, and conducting victim-centered criminal investigations while promoting collaboration and communication among anti-human trafficking professionals. Visit www.ovcttac.org to learn more about these training offerings.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
In May 2014, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Blue Campaign, the department’s unified effort to combat human trafficking, released a new web-based training course for law enforcement that concentrates on signs and indicators of both labor trafficking and sex trafficking. The training focuses on how to detect human trafficking, how to begin an investigation, and the unique dynamics of interviewing trafficking victims. Live-action video scenarios based on actual cases will be featured throughout the course. This training was created by the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLECT) in partnership with several human trafficking subject matter experts.
Note: This course is free and will be available through the FLETC learning portal and several major law enforcement organizations.
Resources
The Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force Strategy and Operations e-Guide
This online guide provides practical information on the creation and day-to-day operations of anti-human trafficking task forces, supplemented by recent case examples. It includes strategies to strengthen multidisciplinary collaboration and enhance victim identification as well as victim-centered investigation and prosecution strategies. Written by leading practitioners from local law enforcement, prosecutors, and victim service providers in the United States, the e-Guide is regularly updated with new tools, trainings, resources, and more case examples. The e-Guide is the result of a partnership between the Department of Justice’s Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) and Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA). The e-Guide is accessible via the OVE TTAC website.
National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC)
The National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC) is a national, toll-free hotline available to receive calls from anywhere in the United States, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, every day of the year. The NHTRC is not a law enforcement or immigration authority and is operated by a nongovernmental organization. The center exists for the sole purpose of providing a place where persons can seek assistance, learn more about human trafficking, or report suspected trafficking. Reach the NHTRC hotline by calling 1-888-373-7888 or texting BeFree (233733). ♦
Note:
1This list of trainings and resources was compiled by Linda Hammond-Deckard, a policy advisor at the BJA Policy Office.
Please cite as:
“Human Trafficking Training and Resources,” The Police Chief 81 (July 2014): web only.
