There's been a lot of movement this week in the effort to raise awareness and move the ball forward in the fight against human trafficking across upstate New York.
“I'm glad this is on the forefront of conversations because it's one of our hidden secrets in our communities,” Monroe County Sheriff Todd Baxter said, weighing in on the severity of the problem of human trafficking and recent developments to attack the problem.
That includes the release this week of a comprehensive report delving into the issue throughout the state of New York.
“It's in every community,” said Republican Assemblyman Brian Maher talking about human trafficking – a crime involving the exploitation of a person for labor, services or sex.
“When we talk about human trafficking, criminals get involved in human trafficking because the penalties are less than getting into drugs,” said Maher. “And we have had folks say that. And when we have this ability to create a better mechanism of enforcement, for law enforcement to give them the tools they need in our [district attorneys], we have to do it.”
Sixty-plus recommendations have been put forth in a lengthy report by a Republican state Assembly Minority Conference Task Force on Human Trafficking in New York state.
It follows a monthlong effort of discussions, meetings and information gathering from stakeholders.
The recommendations and proposals address areas of human services, public safety and education. It calls for legislation including:
- Reclassifying sex trafficking crimes as violent felonies
- Eliminating the criminal statute of limitations for sex trafficking
- Making promoting prostitution a bail-eligible offense
- Allowing hearsay testimony to the grand jury in sex trafficking cases
“There seems to be some agreement that there needs to be better law enforcement and tools given to law enforcement for increased penalties on traffickers,” said Maher.
He plans to work with his Democratic colleagues to make the recommendations a reality.
“This is a bipartisan issue, right?” said Baxter. “This should be one of the ones. There's probably a few more that we should be able to stand up and go, ‘let's just help.’”
Democratic state Sen. Jeremy Cooney is also calling for funding in the upcoming budget to train 211 call operators on how to respond and process incoming calls related to human trafficking tips.
“We realize that we need to make it easier for witnesses or potential victims of human trafficking to be connected to experts to get them the guidance and the help they need simply and easily,” said Cooney.
Human trafficking is taking center stage and becoming a top priority on many levels.
“One thing that will happen, regardless of any legislation that's passed, is the actions of our Minority Task Force, created a network of people that are working together that can share best practices,” said Maher.
“This is modern day slavery,” said Baxter. “And you look at human trafficking, whether sex trafficking or traffickers, that might be working trafficking. And they're out there. So, I'm happy it's coming to the forefront. I'm happy people are talking about it.”
