- Tallahassee Police Department says there are an increased number of human trafficking cases because the community is more vigilant
- Refuge House explains there are two types of human trafficking "apparatuses": local and out-of-town
- Watch the video to find out how these apparatuses are playing out on the Leon County landscape and what measures are in place to protect residents
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Although human trafficking is common at interstate intersections, such as here on North Monroe, Tallahassee Police Department says it's happening all around town. In a continuation of our series about human trafficking, a couple of local agencies are providing more clarity about types of human trafficking here.
"A lot of the sex trafficking survivors that come to us in our emergency shelter, come to us through domestic violence," said Emily Mitchem, Executive Director at Refuge House.
She said that's abut 15-20% of the people they serve. Emily said the common thread they see is that trafficking is intergenerational. She said some of these victims are being sold out by family members.
"They were born into a cycle of violence, they started being abused very young,"
Mitchem said this is what the local trafficking scene looks like. From her perspective, she says there are 2 trafficking apparatuses in our area: local...
"And then there's the out of town trafficking, which is more mobile, it's coming down I-10 stopping in Monroe Street, the motels and then they're gone again," said Mitchem.
She said it's harder to build connections with these victims.
"Some of our worst hotline calls have come from people that were trying to get out of the car coming down I-10," said Mitchem.
But many agencies in Leon County are focusing their efforts on cracking down on these cases. Including local and state representatives that have been collaborating on legislation, the Leon County Sheriff's Office, and the Tallahassee Police Department.
TPD have received 9 reports of human trafficking within City limits in 2023.
Lead Human Trafficking Detective Tibria Howard tells me that number is lower than bigger cities including Tampa or Orlando,
"But for Tallahassee, personally, yes our numbers are increasing," said Howard.
But she saiid that's because the community are now more vigilant to these acts and they're giving them more tips. Howard said TPD's education is becoming more advance.
"We're actually focusing more on human trafficking, basic investigations, events, techniques of human trafficking, the different components of human trafficking," said Howard.
Refuge House and TPD are just two of many agencies doing tremendous work here in Leon County and Florida to address this issue. In Part 3 of this series, I'll be meeting with some of local and state representatives to find out more about what measures they've put in place to protect victims and residents of Leon County.
