Program trains liquor agents to spot victims
The state is taking its fight against human trafficking to liquor-selling establishments by training undercover agents to spot potential victims during investigations.
Gov. John Kasich was joined by anti-trafficking advocates and public officials Monday to announce the Regional Human Trafficking Interdiction Working Groups, a division within the Ohio Investigative Unit.
“They’re not just dealing with after hours and bars,” Gov. Kasich said. “They’re dealing with flesh and blood and people.”
The new program within the Ohio Investigative Unit, a division of the State Highway Patrol, will train about 80 undercover Liquor Control Commission enforcement agents to spot potential trafficking victims in addition to their regular investigations. The program does not expand jurisdiction for the officers.
The undercover agents typically investigate liquor and tobacco violations as well as food stamp fraud. The intersection between trafficking and their roles as agents puts them in a unique position to spot potential victims, according to the administration.
“We know traffickers exploit people for all kinds of profit, and there have been cases in Ohio that involve food stamps,” said Elizabeth Ranade-Janis, an antitrafficking coordinator with the Office of Criminal Justice Services.
“So there really is this clear connection to be able to notice people who might be in trouble or potential victims of exploitation.”
The initiative is part of Kasich’s Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force, which was created in 2012 to help fight “modern-day slavery.” Agents will be trained to connect at-risk individuals and victims to social services through the collaborations already forged by the task force.
The program is meant to train agents to recognize people vulnerable to human trafficking, much in the same way a trafficker might be able to, said John Born, director of the Department of Public Safety.
“An investigative unit, at the right place, at the right time, can connect that person to social service agencies and responses to make sure we don’t have another crime and another victim,” Born said.
Since 2014, the Ohio Attorney General’s office has identified 384 potential trafficking victims and the Ohio Network of Children’s Advocacy Centers has identified 165 potential minor victims, according to state data.
“Developing a comprehensive approach that enlists all relevant state resources is key to the fight against human trafficking in Ohio,” Rep. Teresa Fedor, D-Toledo, said in a statement.
Among the private sector partners joining the effort is the Salvation Army of Central Ohio. Michelle Hannan, the anti-trafficking program director, said the organization coordinates the Central Ohio Rescue and Restore Coalition, which focuses on providing a community response to human trafficking.
In 2016, law enforcement agencies across the state investigated 135 human trafficking cases, according to the Attorney General’s office. That led to 79 arrests and 28 criminal convictions.