Wyoming Highway Patrol Assisting in Human Trafficking Awareness Initiative

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance is launching a new annual three-day Human Trafficking Awareness Initiative.

As many as 24.9 million men, women, and children are sold into prostitution, domestic servitude, or other forced labor around the globe. As commercial motor vehicle drivers and inspectors travel up and down our roadways every day, and are more likely to be one of the first to see crimes of human trafficking. That's why awareness is critical. Knowing what to look for and how to respond is essential.

This initiative is an awareness and outreach effort to educate commercial motor vehicle drivers, motor carriers, law enforcement officers, and the general public about the crime of human trafficking, the signs to look for, and what to do if you suspect someone is being trafficked.

"Human trafficking has been proven to be a growing problem in the US and Wyoming," said Wyoming Highway Patrol Commercial Carrier Lieutenant Dustin Ragon. "This is why the Wyoming Highway Patrol is assisting in the Human Trafficking Awareness Initiative to bring more light and gain assistance from the public and commercial drivers to reduce the occurrences."

Men, women, and children of all ages and backgrounds can become victims of this crime, occurring in every world region. Human traffickers often use violence or fraudulent employment agencies and fake promises of education and job opportunities to trick and coerce their victims.

Since human trafficking is often a crime hidden in plain sight, it is vital to be aware of its warning signs. Some indications that a person may be a victim of human trafficking include (especially in the case of women and children):

Appearing malnourished
Showing signs of physical injuries and abuse
Avoiding eye contact, social interaction, and authority figures/law enforcement
Seeming to adhere to scripted or rehearsed responses in social interaction
Lacking official identification documents
Appearing destitute/lacking personal possessions
Working excessively long hours
Living at a place of employment
Checking into hotels/motels with older males and referring to those males as a boyfriend or "daddy," which is often street slang for pimp
Poor physical or dental health 
Tattoos/ branding on the neck or lower back
Untreated sexually transmitted diseases
Small children serving in a family restaurant
Security measures that appear to keep people inside an establishment - barbed wire inside of a fence, bars covering the insides of windows
Not allowing people to go into public alone or speak for themselves

 

If you or someone you know is a victim of human trafficking, call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-(888) 373-7888 or 911. The hotline is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week in more than 200 languages. All calls are confidential and answered live by highly trained Anti-trafficking hotline advocates.

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Release Contact: Sergeant Jeremy Beck / 307-777-4306

 

Information presented in this release is considered public information and may be distributed or copied. Use of appropriate byline/photo/image credit is requested. While the Wyoming Highway Patrol makes every effort to provide accurate and complete information, various data such as names, ages, etc. may change during the course of the investigation.