Join The Fight Against Human Trafficking Here in Santa Clara County! By Cindy Chavez
Santa Clara County Supervisor, District Two
“Out of sight, out of mind” is a sad but fitting way to describe they recalled many suspicious situations that had occurred how human trafficking has grown into a multi-billion dollar in the past. One of the VTA drivers who received this training illicit industry across the globe. Human trafficking is a form recognized that passengers on his bus seemed to match the of modern day slavery that transcends gender, age, ethnic, description of a kidnapper and his toddler abductee texted socioeconomic and national boundaries. The most vulner- from the VTA operations center. He acted, and when the bus able of us are susceptible to traffickers’ use of deception, reached the Fremont BART Station, police officers immedifraud, threats, coercion, violence, debt ately apprehended the captor and rescued bondage and other manipulative stratethe child. The hero driver, Tim Watson, gies to force people into commercial sex credited the human trafficking training he or labor. had received the week before. The FBI has identified the Bay Area as one We need strong enforcement, too, so the of the nation’s top four hubs for human County has also funded new teams in the trafficking. That is why one of my primaSheriff’s and District Attorney’s offices dedry foci since joining the Board of Supericated to fighting human trafficking. The visors has been to expose and combat Law Enforcement to Investigate Human the scourge of human trafficking in Santa Trafficking (LEIHT) Task Force has investiClara County. gators from the Sheriff, local police and the In 2014, I proposed, and the Board of FBI. The work of the LEIHT Task Force has CINDY CHAVEZ Supervisors unanimously apalready paid off with the arrest of proved, the creation of the multiple human traffickers and Santa Clara County Human Trafrescue of victims from both sex ficking Commission, which I coand labor trafficking. chair with Sheriff Laurie Smith We need your help in identifying, and District Attorney Jeff Rosen. reporting and raising awareness The Human Trafficking Comabout human trafficking. In colmission has already worked on laboration with our community a number of high-profile campartners, Santa Clara County’s paigns, including collaborating Office of Women’s Policy has with the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) developed training materials to help raise awareness and to provide human trafficking awareness training to all VTA decrease the number of people trafficked in our neighbordrivers beginning in March, 2015, and launching the San- hoods. Please learn the red flags of human trafficking and ta Clara County Human Trafficking Awareness Campaign in remember: if you see something, say something. December, 2015. To view the County’s Human Trafficking training video and In the first week of the training provided to VTA drivers and brochure, please visit: fare inspectors, the Office of the Sheriff received eight tips. http://tinyurl.com/SCC-HT-Training-Video (video) VTA employees wished they had this knowledge before, as http://tinyurl.com/SCC-Know-the-Red-Flags (brochure)