Human trafficking, a hidden crime that affects countless communities and marginalized individuals across the United States, involves the exploitation of a person for labor, services, or commercial sex.
It is estimated that more than 27.6 million individuals around the globe are victims of human trafficking, impacting multiple sectors including hospitality, agriculture, construction, landscaping, restaurants, and domestic work.1 To support police agencies in combating human trafficking, the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) is collaborating with the U.S. Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), on the Building Police Agency Capacity: A Toolkit for Human Trafficking Investigations project. The comprehensive toolkit developed through this project will equip agencies with critical resources, promising practices, and practical strategies to enhance the ability to identify, investigate, and prosecute human trafficking cases.
The project leverages the expertise of an advisory group of police executives, prosecutors, service providers, and human trafficking survivors and includes six components designed to enhance agency initiatives in combating human trafficking. Each component has undergone field-testing and refinement based on feedback received from six police agency demonstration sites: Arlington (Texas) Police Department, Glendale (Arizona) Police Department, Leon County (Florida) Sheriff’s Office, Mount Laurel (New Jersey) Police Department, North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, and Portland (Oregon) Police Bureau.
The toolkit components include
- Police Response to Human Trafficking: Agency Self-Assessment: A self-assessment tool for police agencies to conduct a thorough review of their anti-human trafficking efforts. Tailored for police executives, the assessment assists in determining a baseline of how effective agency response is to human trafficking and helps prioritize what steps should be taken to enhance agency operations.
- Police Response to Human Trafficking: Agency Action Planning Guide: This guide assists police executives in formulating action plans to address identified opportunities from the Agency Self-Assessment, which can be used as a companion tool. It encourages discussions to establish and work toward achievement of specific short- and long-term goals intended to enhance victim-centered and trauma-informed approaches to human trafficking response and investigations.
- Guidelines for Developing and Vetting Human Trafficking Training: This tool highlights promising practices for developing human trafficking–specific training content or selecting suitable training vendors or instructors. Topics addressed include core training objectives and competencies, evaluation and program effectiveness content and training topics, design and language, evidence-based practices, and resources.
- Policy Considerations for Agency Human Trafficking Response and Investigations: This document offers considerations to develop or revise human trafficking policies, procedures, and protocols within an agency. It highlights agency structure, managerial aspects, and procedural guidelines for effective investigation and prosecution of human trafficking cases.
- Human Trafficking Police Case Report Checklist: This checklist can be used to ensure police reports capture significant and comprehensive details of the totality of human trafficking crimes and related offenses. Additionally, it can be used as a training tool for patrol officers and investigators on how to develop a thorough human trafficking case report.
- Human Trafficking Investigations Tip Sheet: This document outlines immediate next steps for an officer to take upon identifying a human trafficking victim, from building a case to evidence collection and interviewing. This tool broadens the strategy for police personnel to better respond to human trafficking.
As part of this project, the IACP also hosted three educational online events or webinars, each designed to provide advanced insights and improve specific areas of human trafficking investigations and responses.
- Developing Data-informed Responses to Human Trafficking was developed in collaboration with IDEA Analytics to assist police agencies in leveraging data to enhance their human trafficking response strategies. This online workshop emphasizes how to leverage data sources to identify human trafficking risk factors; explore innovative data collection practices; and use data to inform victim-centered responses.
- A Hidden Crime: Labor Trafficking in the United States, developed in collaboration with Framework, provides valuable information on labor trafficking. The webinar offers a range of technical assistance options aimed at fostering greater support for anti-human trafficking efforts and enhancing the capacity for labor trafficking investigations. Topics include the recognition of survivor experiences; trauma-informed and victim-centered approaches; interview techniques; and strategies for effective investigations. Numerous resources are shared to enhance the ability to address and respond to labor trafficking cases.
- Evolving Police Responses to Human Trafficking: Lessons Learned from Three Jurisdictions is a workshop that is being delivered at the IACP’s 2024 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Boston, Massachusetts, with the recording available afterward on IACPlearn. Hear from a panel of police leaders on what human trafficking looks like in their communities and how they have evolved their strategies to address this crime. Panelists will highlight their experiences advancing their human trafficking policies, procedures, and protocols over the last few years. The IACP and OVC will share the toolkit of resources for police agencies to enhance capacity to identify and assist victims of human trafficking and to hold offenders accountable. d
Note:
1“About Human Trafficking,” U.S. Department of State.
Please cite as
Nohemi Soza-Acevedo, “Building Capacity for Investigating Human Trafficking,” IACP@Work, Police Chief 91, no. 10 (October 2024): 84–86.
