Wednesday, 22 November 2023 n www.TheObserver.com n Volume CXXXVI, Issue No. 28
MODERN-DAY SLAVERY
BELLEVILLE n BLOOMFIELD n EAST NEWARK n HARRISON n KEARNY n LYNDHURST n NORTH ARLINGTON n NUTLEY
How the State of New Jersey is addressing major nationwide issue of human sex trafficking locally
By Kevin A. Canessa Jr.
I
kc@theobserver.com
t was just a couple of months ago when The Observer’s Lisa Feorenzo was at a pub and grill in Sussex County. The food was great. The atmosphere was fantastic. The people who were there, from fellow patrons to the staff, even better. But then something very bizarre happened. She got into a conversation with one of the owners — and that person, a woman, told her signs would soon be going up on the walls of bars, restaurants and many other locations throughout the state. What was going to be on the signs was not so much shocking to Feorenzo since she’s seen the gamut of signs (think just a few months ago when those “See Some-
thing, Say Something” terrorism signs started appearing on Jersey’s highways.) But to anyone who may not have access to these kinds of signs on a regular basis, or know what they mean, these new ones were going to be nothing short of shocking, disturbing really — and they were going to appear with absolutely no explanation (not shocking) from the State of New Jersey. First, Feorenzo called Gov. Murphy’s office — they had no idea what she was talking about. But, that office had the New Jersey Attorney General’s office call her. From that, she and I composed a series of questions after we found exact examples of the signs, which were to alert patrons of the dangers, the horrors, of human trafficking. See TRAFFICKING, Page 14