Sex trafficking has been an enormous problem in the United States and its finally been brought to light by some unfortunate but brave victims and their families. I like this article because it explains why it's such a problem, mainly targeting the higher authority and their lack of knowledge on the subject and signs that something is wrong or may cause need for investigation. I agree with the families,mothers in specific, who are upset because no action has been taken. It is a sad reality that in this world today, there are evils that are hard to detect or mitigate. Sex trafficking has fallen into that category mainly because of the fear that is bestowed into the victims such as if they talk they will die. I would be quite agitated and paranoid if I were in that position as well but it seems to me like the article is focused more on the lack of education in the law enforcement sector. Law enforcement personnel must be trained so much before they are even eligible for the job but the problem is that some crimes are not focused on as much as they should be. With that being said, I disagree with some of the parents and victims complaints because there is only so much a law enforcement officer can do. There are so many other crimes happening in the world today and it is quite hectic when it comes to trying to mitigate these problems in the court of law. While saying that ion the best way possible, it still doesn't sound like it is the right thing especially to the people who want justice. I'm afraid that without any hard evidence or investigative skills into the sex trafficking business, there is not much that can be done. GVFF007
I think when we talk about the training of officers in our criminal justice classes it is healthy to take a step back and realize that we (or our classmates) are the future officers and are in the early stages of their training. So when we say that Law Enforcement Officers need to be better trained in situations of Human Trafficking this is where it ultimately begins, because we are reading these articles now and recognizing how prevalent the issues are and what is going on in these scenarios. So it may not be the entire police force taking one of their off days to go to a seminar to learn how to handle these situations but we can see that there is gradual change going on and I personally don't see the gradual change fading away. I think the people involved with Criminal Justice will only further their knowledge on this topic. -TaxSeason007
I agree that yes sex trafficking has been an enormous deal in this day in age, and it’s starting to come out because of brave victims like Mrs. Skelly who have a difficult situation to bring to the light because so much people don’t understand her pain, or even just within herself having to play it over and over in her head as she talking about it. As I said in my thought it is sad that social media make us surpass the fact that human trafficking can be going on simply down the street or even next door to someone’s house and it goes undetected. Statechamp007
I agree with you when you say that sex trafficking has been an enormous problem in the United States and it has finally been brought to light by some unfortunate but brave victims and their families. In the past, sex trafficking was discussed as a problem, but not nearly as much as it should have been. In today’s world, more and more people are finally understanding and becoming aware of how big of a problem this really is. Thanks to more and more knowledge being provided to the public, people are becoming able to deal with situations similar to what has happened to people in the past and try to deal with sex trafficking in the best ways possible. -Fozz007
From my previous classes with Dr. White I was informed that human trafficking was a more serious and local problem than most people understand it to be. One of the examples that Dr. White had previously given was that there were some workers at a Dunkin Donuts or a Baskin Robbins or something of the sort who were a foreign couple or family that seemed to be completely normal employees but in reality they were victims of human trafficking and nobody even knew for the longest time. This article did give a more in depth look at what is going on in human trafficking, especially among young women. The tent city part of the article was incredibly hard to read because of the brutality of the situation as was the Club Space girl who found herself tattooed. My mind kept wondering "Where are their fathers?" The people who are meant to be their primary protector, are they in the picture or did they end up just feeling like they couldn't help the situation of their missing daughter? I know it's not fair to blame them for any of what happened though, that's not what I'm trying to do. It's just more of a thing where I have to try and empathize with the people who may be involved in this situation. The despondent attitudes from the police was also something that I found to be very off putting and because of it I think that people need to be much more serious about how they discipline their kids. Sure the police need to do a better job but police are almost a last resort in this scenario, it starts with protecting your own child from making mistakes like running away because the world is going to be brutal to the kind of people who seem like easy prey. -TaxSeason007
I understand where you are wondering where the fathers are doing these situations and it's sad to say that from what i've seen locally, it is usually single mother children who find themselves victim because quite frankly, that makes them an easier target without any hassle in the process. For these girls, it has been hard enough already but then they don't have a man to trust anymore which makes it even more unfortunate.GVFF007
I understand where you're coming from in the sense of better preparing our children for real life situations, For example we should inform our kids about social media and the very real dangers that come along with it as well as if your child were to be on their own in the world for whatever reason they should be informed on what precautions they should be taking to stay safe. Although i wouldn't confuse the lack of incompetence the detectives had in this case as a “sorry, no luck tried our best” on a last ditch situation. They made the situation worse because as the article said they didn't even start a couple of the investigation until after the first 48 hours and after that the likelihood of finding a missing child decreases immensely because 78% of abductors who kill children do it within the first 3 hours and 88% in the first 24. They shouldn't just have done better they should have done their job to begin with and if the things these mothers are reporting are true then they absolutely didn't. I don't agree that police officers should be looked at as merely a last resort because in most situations they are your only resort. As a mother in this situation you could have done every single thing right and it still could have happened. Your child, although young and inexperienced, is still a person capable of making their own decisions and you may have taken every step you needed to but they can still make the wrong one and you're not always able to prevent it, especially as they grow. we are supposed to be able to rely on law enforcement to do the job they signed on for and in my opinion, in this case if all is true, they did not. gray007
In the reading of the article, “Sex Trafficking: South Florida’s youngest victims” with in reading the first paragraph’s the Article stated some real key points that I do believe is a concern in some police departments or even in the society we live in. When thinking of human trafficking some people would think of the main states like Arizona, the border of Mexico etc. The reason being is because all of the movies, and news broadcasting mainly focusing on the main platform of human trafficking which would make you totally forget that a lot of runaways don’t be really gone far away, they be right up under our noses in the most bizarre places. Also, in the article John Rode states that “I think the problem is education within police departments” (https://thecrimereport.org/2018/07/23/sex-trafficking-south-floridas-youngest-victims/) not only do I believe that some of its true because if you’re not assigned to human trafficking as a positions within your department you aren’t dealing with human traffickers on the day to day basis so it would be more harder for you to pick up on the sign the one’s person had been involved in a very much heinous crime and put it together that yes she’s was considered a run away at first but within that same time frame she was also assaulted which then made her a victim. When she arrived back on her mother door’s step yes it’s fantastic that she made it home then you start to see bruises all over her body, then she got this tattoo that she didn’t have when she left, and then you go to the doctor and finds out she got chlamydia and the doctor don’t take a rape kit or the police don’t ask questions even after she gave a very solid and descriptive ID of the suspect I just don’t see how you this case didn’t get solved or if it did why did it take so long that’s one less creature off the street which would make little kids fear or have to worry about one less person. Statechamp007
Due to the police not having anything to say at all about her case... I'm starting to wonder if by any chance that a police officer or someone in that force did something to her. In the article it said that when Laura was questioned she got pretty hostile. I may be stressing it but for some reason that gave me a feeling that they were apart of the abuse that she received. okurrr007
While reading the article about Sex Trafficking I have learned a lot of things that I did not know before. And I understand more as a future police officer that instead of just making a case as a runaway there should be more investigating going on and the way that the police handle it should be taken more serious then just waiting for the runaway child to show back up at home. Also police officers should make a report when there is a runaway teenager, that would not just be in the city but could be everywhere in the United States so it can be taken more serious. In Peoria IL there has been a young mother Alexis Scott that has been missing since September and it seem to me that the police have given up. In the Journal Star it states “We have no evidence to suggest that this is a murder or that she’s a victim of trafficking. We can’t tell one way or the other,” said the detective, who is urging people to help with the search. How would you investigate that? There has been so many statics that show that there is sex trafficking going on in the United States. Peoria police officer should just keep that in mind. This in my opinion if Alexis is in a sex trafficking situation its not like there is going to be a sign that says" We have taken Alexis Scott". I just feel like as a whole we should take it very serious then just a "runaway" situation. Law enforcement in the United States and also the parents of the runaway. Parents can prevent their child from running away if they listen, understand and pay attention to their child. Don't blame it on the child but blame it on yourself because as a parent you are supposed to protect, love and nurture also be their first teacher. It starts with you and how your children will react to things in life. Smiles007
I agree with you in the sense of learning much more about sex trafficking, and I think that's part of the problem. Not many people understand what sex trafficking is which is why we must educate our officers, parents, and even teenagers of the dangers that can come from making a rash decision like running away. Officers don’t know when to stop sex trafficking due to lack of education of the topic, they don’t know it may be happening right in front of them. I also agree strongly on working harder to find missing people. I think it is something that is looked over quite frequently and proof of that is seen throughout the article where the police did not visit the house the day the missing person report was filed. Jar007
One thing that I found interesting from this article was the fact that the problem of dealing with sex trafficking is due to the lack of knowledge within both police departments and the public. When someone thinks of sex trafficking, they will most likely think of this occurring somewhere outside of the country. However, this is not the case. As a matter of fact, it is actually happening within multiple states in the country and even just within some cities alone. Another thing that stood out to me was the fact that for some of the youngest of them, victimization begins a few miles from home-within shouting distance of their families and beneath the radar of local authorities. This means that once these sex traffickers get these young girls, they aren’t shipping them to somewhere overseas like France. Most of the time, they are simply just being moved further up the road, so-to-speak. Further into the article, it is discussed how Mary’s daughter was a victim of sex trafficking in Florida and nearly nothing was done about it. Mary’s daughter, Laura, was missing for 10 days and returned having not showered once, had a tattoo, had contracted an STD, and had on completely different clothing. Mary was told by police that they would meet with her, and they never did. Also, Mary became irate when the hospital had the chance to conduct a rape test and did not do so. According to Mary, “Fort Lauderdale doesn’t view human trafficking as what it is”. This is a sad and confusing story to hear. It makes me wonder why the police treated this the way that they did and how basically nothing was done for Mary’s daughter, Laura. This story is a perfect example of how human trafficking is a big problem and many people do not see it this way, mainly because of the lack of knowledge needed to deal with the problem. -Fozz007
I agree with you that most pimps are not taking these girls out of the country. Which is very scary to think that this could be happening near you and you have no understanding of what is taking place. The other thing that was pointed out was that many of these girls are afraid to leave for the fear of dying. Which is quite a sad situation because under these certain situations I would feel the same way. They obviously know where you and your family live and if they dont they will beat it out of ya. Which is a very scary to think but it is the face of reality. -hollywood007
Those are exactly my thoughts. The fact that majority of these females experiences of trafficking, the people involved lived within walking distances of their residences. I think trafficking is one of the situations we just kind of think of it being a big issue and sad situation to be in but we don't really think more of it because 3"well it hasn't happened to me or my family". I think it takes a personal standpoint in order for it to be truly shocking and to do something about it and stand up. I think for young females it is also blown off in a sense if they run away or leave because "oh they just didn't like what mom or dad had to say" and they'll be back they're just pouting, regardless of age. No one immediately jumps to the fact that maybe something more is going on or there is something way serious happening. -notacop911
I completely agree with you on this! Due to lack of knowledge on this topic just puts more people into harm! Knowing that sex trafficking is happening in all over the world is a nightmare! Also knowing that these teens are only within miles of their homes is sad to even think about. This is a very sensitive topic to talk about and its just one that people feel bad for but wont do anything to help out and that is a terrible feeling! Sex trafficking can happen to anyone at anytime and if our society is uneducated about the topic then we are at risk! -freckles007
I found many interesting things in this article. The main idea that spoke out to me was that most police departments lack the knowledge of sex trafficking. Which also shows that we are not getting the right information out to the public. Most of the public believes that these “pimps” are taking girls out of the country to be sex trafficked there and the sad part is that most of the young women that are taken are just taken and placed just a few blocks from their actually home. This is occuring more and more right from under us and as a community are not understanding. Many of these girls are also able to walk freely but often feel attached to their pimp and unable to leave because they are afraid they will be killed. That's why most women don't run away from their abductors. This is becoming to be more frequent in the states and is rapidly increasing. Another concerning issue is that we don't have trained police in the streets that are able to recognize these girls. In this article we hear a story from a mother who reported her little girl missing and nothing was done about it. The young women came back ten days later with a tattoo, bruises and a STD. Which are clear signs of sex trafficking and rape, but nothing was done. No rape kit was done on her and no questions were asked. Which reveals the question of why police department are not doing anything to help this young women from harm or at the very least help lock away the ones who have done things to her. The public needs to become aware of this issue and help make certain that this doesn't happen because all it takes is one girl to run away from home and be picked up that will change her life forever. -hollywood007
I agree with you that most pimps are not taking these girls out of the country. Which is very scary to think that this could be happening near you and you have no understanding of what is taking place. The other thing that was pointed out was that many of these girls are afraid to leave for the fear of dying. Which is quite a sad situation because under these certain situations I would feel the same way. They obviously know where you and your family live and if they dont they will beat it out of ya. Which is a very scary to think but it is the face of reality. -hollywood007
I completely agree with you and the article the fear is all the pimps need to keep these girls from running away or contacting authorities because they are scared they will kill them. I would also agree that most of the public things that these girls are being taken out of the country because that is all the big news stations talk about when it comes to the topic of human trafficking. RHB007
I had perceived human trafficking as what we see on the news or hear from others. I thought it was strictly when traffickers abduct or deceive someone to join their ring. I also was not aware of how large of an issue human trafficking is. I think it is a horrifying thought that this is happening in the world around us and how many young children have social media. I think social media has a lot to come into play since it is an outlet for kids to talk to people and children can be very naive. This article is very informative because it truly explains what human trafficking is and true stories of females that were subjected to it, as well as their families. I am very curious of what happened with the Police not providing as much interest in the case. Especially since the female was a minor. I feel like there was a lot more there not to the public's eye. It is very sad that such young females will have to remember their years of adolescents remembering such a rough time and what they had to go through. I think what is most unsettling of the situations these families faced is that their daughters seemed to have meant well and been in the wrong places at the wrong times and though their "friends" were true friends. A lot of young females try to find themselves during these years and are exposed to things that they have to define as right and wrong. When I was younger, I did not have any social media. Facebook was not really a thing. Now, children who can simply count have an instagram or facebook. It's easy for them to accept a friend request or follow, not understanding or caring who they just let into their social media life/world. It is extremely eerie. -notacop911
I believe that social media has made it even easier for these things to happen, with older men stalking young girls who don't put their account on private. I had this issue with my younger sister and when a guy that claimed to go to my school started messaging her and she told me about him, I had to tell her that I had never seen him in the school before and that she needed to block him before things went further. The world has gotten very scary lately. -CAPMARVEL007
I completely agree that social media has made it so much easier for these criminals to seek out young kids. Social media can be a very useful tool, but sometimes it shows its ugly side and thats where these criminals like to hide. Its a scary world we live in with these advancements in technology. -CUBFAN007
The extent to which sex trafficking has developed and spread recently terrifies many people including myself. Not only does it worry me for my personal safety but for my future children, my younger siblings, nieces and nephews, and my best friend's safety. It has me and many others worried for everyone's safety and it shouldn't be that way. The police department should be making you feel safer to an extent, that is their job, it's what they signed on for. But instead i almost feel more afraid with them having the jobs they do than i would without them because they give these families a false sense of security as if they are accomplishing something when they are not which only gets in the way of the families finding someone to conduct a real investigation because they think they are already getting one and they aren't. It wastes so much time which is very valuable in cases like these. They are doing little to nothing and It has gotten to the point where, in my personal opinion, in many cases and places we may as well just be letting it happen. The article demonstrates that Police departments take little to no interest in run away cases almost as if they believe the victims brought it upon themselves which is absolutely ridiculous especially in the case of minors whose brains are nowhere near fully developed but are being treated as if they should have known what to do and done better. Which in hindsight is so very hypocritical considering the detectives who were trained to help others and are being paid for such are doing virtually not a thing so realistically if anyone should be doing better it's them, granted this is a one sided point of view of the story and i've heard nothing from the detectives on the case on what level of effort they put in but focusing strictly on this article all i see is that they are failing at their jobs. When it gets to the point that the mother and sister of a victim are making more headway on a case than a trained detective being paid to do so it definitely should be opening some eyes and questions should be asked. This article completely broke my heart and i expected so much more from the investigators on these little girls cases. It's absolutely infuriating and i wish i could help these girls and their families more than anything because obviously no one else is. gray007
When we hear the words “sex trafficking,” as Americans we immediately think of women and children overseas who are being forced into the sex trade or who are brought into the United States for the purpose of sexual exploitation. We don’t usually think closer to home — Americans trafficked by Americans. But think about young women and even girls that you have seen late at night when you come home from work or a social event. Maybe you have seen them in the streets in short dresses and spike heels. It’s surprising to think, but I believe that there are several young prostitutes and sex workers out there that may have started or are even still part of the American sex trade. This isn’t generally a subject brought up by law enforcement or even news outlets even when the facts are right in front of them. If a woman says that she is a sex worker because “I have no other choice,” maybe it’s because she was forced into that life in the first place. To understand all aspects of sex trafficking in the United States, you have to open your mind and let go of what you have seen or heard on television. You need to let go of the media’s portrayal of the “joys” of street prostitution, and open your eyes to the violence and control the pimps and sex traffickers exercise over their victims, who are mostly girls and young women. This is something that many people do not either want or even know to think about. ECPAT USA (End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes)’, an Anti-Trafficking agency, states that the average age of entry into street prostitution is between 12 and 14 years old, though there have been cases of girls as young as 9 years old. I know that it is hard to fathom, but a child who should be playing with Barbie’s or learning from their older sister how to do makeup may be out of the street trying to make their “owner” happy right now. Until people realize that this is happening right under their noses, I don’t think it is going to get any better. -CAPMARVEL007
I completely agree with you that Americans do not think of human trafficking being a major problem in the United States. They think it is just a problem overseas. I blame that on the median not informing us more on the cases that happen within our boarders. I really enjoyed reading your post. –ClarkKent007
The article,Sex Trafficking: South Florida’s Youngest Victims was a intriguing and yet sad read. I was not aware of how big and bad it actually is in our country. The first part of the article stated some areas that I think is a concern for some police departments and even everyday society. The article mentions John Rode, a private investigator, and he says that the education is lacking on what and where sex trafficking is occuring. Many departments think that sex trafficking is just at the border or the states around the border. That is not the case according to Rode. It can be even in your community. This made me reflect on what could this mean for my future children. I shouldn’t have to worry in America of all places for my children playing and getting picked up by these animals. There needs to be more of a push to educate everyone on the matter. The poor girl and her family haven’t even gotten justice yet. I would be furious knowing that man was still out there and possibly ruining other girls lives.The other scary thing is the way these criminals use social media. A lot of the time this is where they find these young girls and seek them out, which is very scary and concerning. Social media can be a very useful tool in today's world but it also can show its ugly side and that's what we all need to be aware of. Overall, I thought the article was very informative and had good information. -CUBFAN007
I strongly agree with the social media interfering in situations like this. Older men take advantage of social media to come onto young girls. They make fake accounts pretending to be someone they are not, catfishing females. Even if the girls know they are older and make the wrong decisions talking to older guys, the men are still in the wrong coming for a young girl. Parents should also have more supervision on their child’s accounts being that young. They need to know what’s going on in their child’s life, knowing there are some crazy people out in this world. -pieface007
After reading this article I was surprised on how the police handled the situation and how much knowledge they lack on human trafficking. I was also surprised on how little knowledge I knew of human trafficking. I perceived human trafficking to be an illegal act that happens out of the United States in places such as France, and if it did happen in the United States it was few and far between. But in reality, it happens here in the United States frequently, worse yet the youngest of the victims are taken within shouting distance of their home, which is scary to think about. I blame the media for not informing us on how bad the trafficking is in the United States. They want to make a bigger deal on human trafficking outside the United States but in they need to keep us more informed on the cases that happen in the United States because it happens frequently within our states such as Florida, Arizona, and many more states. With human trafficking being a 150-billion-dollar operation you would think that there would be more training to combat this. I understand that the Police did not take Mrs. Skelly call to them serious because it was just a runaway child case. But not to take it serious after the daughter came back 10 days later beaten, bruised, tattooed, and had a STD was wrong of the police officers. Plus to not follow up on the information that the victim gave them is completely surprising and absurd. Even if that guy wasn’t a sex trafficker the chance to take him off the streets if he was should have been enough to follow up on the information. More training is needed so that police officers are more informed on human trafficking and can actually be prepared to do something about it. -ClarkKent007
I enjoy your train of thought on the matter. you are taking a very practical approach to the matter to the way the cops handled this. What do you think should have happened? There are a lot of ways that it could have been handled but are all of them correct is the question needing to be asked. Lots of ways to think about the situation at hand. -Robocop007
I agree with you on the media because I never really heard about human trafficking in the United States. I always heard about human trafficking being a big problem in other countries. I was shocked when I read that it was a 150 billion dollar operation and when I read about what some of the police officers did it makes me feel like they don't know a lot about this. I also agree that there needs to be more training. -SOCCER31007
Sex trafficking has been a huge problem for a large amount of time. The problem has started with people not speaking out against the people who are doing it in fear that they will be put in more danger then they already were. These brave families finally started speaking out and helping the officers take action against this horrible problem that has taken place. With the information that has been gained from this family reveling what they went through the officers can better understand how to take down this problem and how to handle the after effects. If we know what is going on in these rings of traffic then we can better understand how to deal with them. Without this prior knowledge we would be blind to how often they operate, how they operate and it would be near impossible to stop them, let alone find them at all. Unfortunately this had to happen to someone to figure this out. I could not imagine going through this. With the information through what the person has said also claims that there are men, women, and children. This means this could happen to anyone of any age really. This means that extra security measures for everyone should be taken. Everyone should have some kind of training that shows them what to do in case they ever should find themselves in this spot or how to spot someone in this spot by specific keywords. -Robocop007
I thought there was a lot of interesting things in this article. I didn't know that human trafficking was that bad in South Florida and I didn’t realize that Florida was ranked number three in the country for sex trafficking. I didn’t realize that human trafficking mainly starts as a runaway case. When the article explained what Miami Dade County was doing to try and stop human trafficking, I thought they made a lot of progress. When they trained 5,000 police officers on the signs of human trafficking and what to do, I thought that was a great idea. Some people don't know the signs of human trafficking or what to look for or what to do. Training licensed doctors and nurses on human trafficking was a good idea too because they could be seeing a lot of human trafficking victims and they don't even realize it because they don’t know the signs. It seems like Miami Dade County has realized the extent of the problem and they’re making changes to try and fix it. I thought the stories that were shared were really sad. I thought the police officers and detectives in Fort Lauderdale didn't know much about it because I felt like they didn't seem very concerned especially since some of them didn't follow up on the information that was given to them by the parents that had the missing children. Laura’s mother reported her child missing and the police said they would come to her job that day and they never showed up. They were able to track one of the girls cell phones but the police department never followed up on it and she’s still missing. I think that if the police departments become more educated and trained on human trafficking, they could help a lot of people that are in danger and we can to eliminate the human trafficking. SOCCER31007
Sex trafficking is a big problem all over the world. I feel like the police officers did not put any effort into finding the girls. They will never be able to understand how the parents feel until they are put in the same situation and one of their family members are missing. I wish they would treat these cases as if their child was missing. In the Peoria case of missing, Alexis Scott, it seems as though little has been done on behalf of law enforcement. Her mother, April Scott, has gotten further into the investigation than the Peoria Police Department. It is important for the community to hold law enforcement accountable for incomplete and poorly done investigations. Situations like this make me think that if I was in a life-threatening encounter, my family would be way more effective in assisting me than the police. There has been a time that I was at the gas station and a man came up to my car and knocked on the window demanding me to roll down the window. I ignored him and started to call my brother. The man continued to stand outside my car door and started to question me asking, “So you not gown roll down the window?”,” What’s your name”. Luckily, I spotted my step dad across the street at McDonald’s drive thru line and he came right over. As soon as the man realized I was talking on the phone he left the gas station and he was never caught. No one knows what could have happened or what he would have done if I did not see my step dad across the street. I am so grateful I was inside my locked car and help was nearby, but this situation still terrified me. Things like sex trafficking can happen to anyone!!! -pieface007
I 100% agree with you saying they will never ever understand until they are put through that situation. I am very glad that you are safe from your incident because who knows what could have happened. Thankfully your step dad was right across the street. stay safe!
I feel that the cause of these cases start at the home..If a child is just so out of control please be a parent and stop YOUR CHILD. If they are wrong put them in their place so that same incident never happens again. Also, parents say some things or don’t say anything at all which will cause children to feel some type of way. That’ll cause us to question their love for us. I personally knew someone who went on this sites because she didn’t feel the love at home. So, in order to feel love from people she went online. One there, grown men were giving her the attention she desired. She was disrespectful to her mom then later on met up with someone who she met online and eventually, he raped her. I don’t believe parents know what the say or even don’t say to there child is very emotional. And as teenagers we are taking thing to the heart, and as a female at times we are emotional train wrecks. So we go online, meet someone who is telling us EVERYTHING we want to hear, then get hurt. If that’s the case, why isn’t sex trafficking illegal? My next perspective on this topic is the police need to take their jobs more seriously. As a child we are told that we always call 911 in case of an emergency. Right? So why is it that the young ladies, who’ve been taken advantage of, family can never receive answers right away from there child? “911 will always be there”. Well if that’s the case a missing persons report should not take a whole week to get processed. If you need a week to assign an officer to the case then I feel that means there aren’t enough officers to handle this case. Or maybe is the officer unprepared? Maybe better training should be enforced to upcoming officers to avoid this if sex trafficking cases ever happen again. okurrr007
I agree that better parenting tactics can definitely be a good start, but unfortunately that may never happen. In towns like Miami, FL officers are slammed with calls involving drunken tourists, drugs, car wrecks, etc. The detectives may have a lot of cases already assigned to them, and they can only take on so many at one time. A lot of times it’s an administration issue that causes reports to back up and sit on desks. Redranger007
Sex trafficking and any kind of human trafficking is an under rated problem. I feel it is often swept under the rug. Perhaps this is because an awkward uncomfortable and maybe sensitive issue. Many don't know how to discuss it. Often the only time it is brought up is in Hollywood and not in a realistic or serious manner. This may be why it is not handled by the Fort Lauderdale PD. It is so downplayed many police departments and law enforcement agencies are aware of the scope of the issue. Some may be well aware of the problem but know that it is difficult to prosecute traffickers and find or help victims. Even if the department knows there is little help to find a missing girl I believe it is still Important to put forth an effort or communicate with the victims family. If anything just to comfort them. Trafficking or kidnaping is traumatic for both family and victim. Law enforcement officers and agencies should be trained to handle these situations with tact. The public should also be more aware of the very real problem.-11bravo007
I think you’re right, that it is a sensitive issue that no one likes to talk about because no one knows how to properly handle it. I agree that any law enforcement agency should be trained correctly how to deal with these cases. Also knowing how to speak with a family or victim even though they probably can’t relate. taco007
A major thing that stood out to me at the very beginning of this article was that the mother was able to give law enforcement very specific information about the man who had raped her little girl and nothing came from that information. It was just a shock to me that there is nothing done about this situation. Which leads me into another part I found interesting, the fact that humans and or sex trafficking can mean the victim is being held right up the street. I would say that article hit it right on the nose once a local law-enforcement is just under educated about the real problems involving sex trafficking. About 90% of the time the only thing you hear about human trafficking is young girls being shipped overseas in cargo containers and I think that has led to the public and or law-enforcement thinking it takes place more at the international level. This is occuring more and more right from under us and as a community are not understanding. Many of these girls are also able to walk freely but often feel attached to their pimp and unable to leave because they are afraid they will be killed. There are many reason that young kids run away from home and it shows that from the fist hand account in this article that even running away just because something bad happened at home can turn into a horrific ordeal and it shows that local law enforcement need to learn how to spot these exploited children. It is also horrifying to think that a pimp can access these girls on social media and take advantage of someone who has posted something about her life not going well a pray upon that. This is yet again another reason as to why social media needs to be montarded by guardians of young children. RHB007
I agree that social media is definitely a problem when it comes to sex trafficking. I think that more people need to monitor their children if they're on social media and aren't in high school yet. It's very easy to find out a lot about people these days, and that's scary to think about when it comes to these sex traffickers. -BuffaloChickenDip007
After reading this article I was very shocked at some of the things the police did, or didn't do. For instance, I can't believe that there was no rape kit test done at the hospital. I would think that the first thing the police would do when Laura arrived to the hospital would be to check for the suspected sex trafficker's DNA with a rape kit. I was also surprised that many of the women in sex trafficking aren't taken far away from their homes. I'd think that would make it easier for police to find the victims, but evidently not. I think that sex trafficking is definitely overlooked by law enforcement. There is a lot of women that go missing every day, so I understand it's difficult to get to every case. Maybe they should focus more on missing people and put more cops on patrol for them. There has to be a way to cut the time down in these searches, considering the first 48 hours are the most important missing children cases. This article also made me realize how easy it is for sex trafficking to happen. Almost no effort is needed from sex traffickers once they find a runaway girl. All they need is to capture her and scare them with threats about what will happen if they try to escape. The worst thing about these sex trafficking crimes is the after effects. Even if the police catch the trafficker or the girls escape, they are forever haunted by the event. Colleen Hernandez's daughter, Jane, left the sex traffickers addicted to cocaine, and Laura Skelly left with a giant tattoo on her neck that will be a constant reminder every day of her life. I think it's not only the police who need to take sex trafficking more seriously, but the public. If these girls were better informed on sex trafficking they might not have ran away in the first place. By better educating people we can better prevent these terrible crimes from happening in the future. -BuffaloChickenDip007
I agree with you if only there was more education and information about sex trafficking these situations could be prevented. I also thought the same thing about the DNA, if only there was a rape kit done that could have been used to find a match to somebody. Within those first 48 hours you can find so much crucial and valuable evidence and I believe you can be closer to finding that person. I also agree that those victims are always going to have those thoughts in their mind of what happened to them, in other words I believe they will be traumatized. Considering that was a very traumatic event that occurred in their life. 21Miami007
In the article sex trafficking I was really surprised how there is lack of education about this topic. I knew there was cases of sex trafficking in the United States however, as the article states I thought it was more oversees where it is more common. The fact that most of the victims are under 18 is even more heartbreaking. From personal experience the sex trafficker will make the victim feel good, offer her money and promise her a good life but, in reality we all know it’s a lie but, to those victims that sounds like the perfect life they could have, its made up to sound glamours. I do feel as if there were certain things the police could have done to help find the young lady named Sara. When that phone started to ring they should have followed up on that immediately not days later. Like her mother said this is life and death situation your dealing with. It's even the little things such as when the cop car supposedly drove by her and kept going they could have saved her then. I don’t understand how they wouldn’t consider Jane a human trafficking case. She was sold for crack and being abused . In my opinion she was almost held against her will and was in extreme danger and fear to escape. I feel as if police and detectives really wanted to find the sex traffickers they could. For example with Laura, just with following up on that tattoo she had and matching it with other young girls who have been in her situation and, also with tips and if a rape kit would have been done there would have been DNA, that would have matched in the system somewhere. They could have took that evidence and other evidence in the system from previous cases and found a lead. 21Miami007
After reading this article, it is very clear that most police departments have not taken the time to train officers and detectives on signs of human sex trafficking. And its not just in the United States, its primarily in third wheel countries. The one thing that did upset me reading this article is that the police literally had information on the 22 year old guy. Address, name, Instagram account, etc. Yet still nothing was done. It has become a huge thing in the Iowa area, when multiple girls have been missing for days and by the looks of it, it loos like they have given up on looking for them. Imagine being a parent and your kid goes missing and the cops just stop looking for them, you would be furious. The attention of human sex trafficking should be a bigger deal than it is because they have no control on what they do. And if we're going to be honest, it's not always just little girls too, its little boys as well. Law enforcement needs to step up on awareness of sex trafficking in general.
I always thought that human trafficking was only when they brought people in and out from other countries. Now, knowing that it can be something so simple as being a block away from their house is unbelievable and even that there is more people being taken everyday. There is a lot more people being sold than I thought. There are many other problem officers have to deal with and it’s understandable why most cases are not looked at right away. In my opinion, I think that for the Fort Lauderdale police department wasn’t very diligent with the situations in front of them. I understand that Florida’s population is very large and they have a large caseload but for police officers knowing that the first 48 hours a child being lost is critical, they should have been more responsible and should have taken that opportunity to try. They shouldn’t have assumed that the kid would be back later even though it usually is like that. They could have been more considerate of the families, who were desperate in finding their daughters. Also, I think that girls from ages 10 to 15 go through and emotional phase making them a little defiant to their parents. They seek approval and attention from other people, not knowing they could regret it later because of immaturity. It’s unfair to me that one of the cases most likely couldn't be held in court because one of them agreed a few times to have sex with their perpetrator because he was hurting her. There might not be enough evidence to prove someone guilty in some cases but when they have enough evidence to make action there isn’t anything done. It isn’t fair for the victims and families that have to live everyday without seeing any kind of justice. taco007
I like what you had to say but, I believe that there needs to be more clear cut evidence of a human/sex trafficking crime(s) being committed. Crimes may be similar in nature but have different criminal penalties. I believe that law enforcement may be put on to a case that was not a sex trafficking case to begin with, and resources then get wasted. --YouMustAcquit007
The text talks about the subject of there not being as much education within police departments. I agree with that statement. Not many people know a true definition of sex trafficking, which is a problem. If an officer isn’t trained or educated on what sex trafficking even is, then how can he or she make an attempt to slow it from happening, stop it from happening, and prevent it from happening. If we want this problem to stop, then we need to educate officers on what to look for, where to look, and how to prevent it in the future. The amount of teens that are being sex trafficked are growing, and if that means that we need to hire specific personnel in specific places to spot and stop sex trafficking, then I say it needs to happen. Sex trafficking is happening here in the U.S. and you don’t hear much about it on the news. With there being big cities in Illinois, like Chicago, Peoria, and East St. Louis, we need to keep an eye on sex trafficking in those places and others before it gets out of control and we have no chance of stopping it. Listening to the victim or tips from others will help as well. I find it very concerning that the police didn’t decide to stop by Mrs. Skelly’s house to ask questions or anything, and then once presented the name and much more information, not being able to apprehend the person responsible for committing this crime against this girl. I think that to limit and eliminate sex trafficking here in the U.S., we need to start educating officers and training them on what to look for and how to stop it when it’s happening. I also like the idea of the Special Police Units that work to eliminate sex trafficking in Miami, and i believe it would be beneficial to train a force like that for every major city so we can stay atop sex trafficking before it spirals out of control. Jar007
The issue of sex trafficking in America has long gone ignored, articles such as the one that we had to read highlights what some victims and their families go through. Law enforcement has been left in the dark so to speak in terms of being properly up to date and educated on everything that entails and is related to sex trafficking. That can be blamed on lack of proper training, not enough funding, not taking victims who report sex traffic crimes seriously, etc. Sex trafficking is a crime that people/society do not want to think of or even want to talk about. People think, no not in my town, or no that will not happen to anyone I know. Then it does, people get affected, the evils of the world expose themselves. We should not as people treat or look down on someone who has been a sex trafficking victim. Law enforcement, is partly to blame for letting sex trafficking get to be such a major problem in America. Yet, people around America commit crimes every day and do not get caught. If law enforcement is properly educated on how to spot, identify, and properly investigate sex-trafficking crimes, than there would be more arrests and prosecutions. People need to speak up, victims, families of victims, etc. Parents need to talk to their kids about the world properly, and that evil things do happen to good people. Everyone looks and perceives the world that they live in differently. Technology has a big part to play in sex trafficking, criminals always try to remain ahead of law enforcement. Law enforcement needs that technology along with the proper training necessary to combat sex trafficking effectively. Criminals, such as sex traffickers, are out in society. As crazy as that sounds, that is the truth. –YouMustAcquit007.
Sex trafficking is such a huge deal in our country and I feel as if it isn't taken very serious in some states. Reading about the Skelly's experience makes me very upset that Florida did not do a better job to look for this 13 year old girl. A child is a child no matter how troubled they seem to be, no one deserves to be raped, beaten, and threatened. Sex trafficking has gone ignored for so long and now it is getting worse and worse by the minute. reading this article highlights everything these poor mothers/ women went through and to know the police let these men go unnoticed really makes you wonder if they're trying their hardest to protect us. The text clearly shows that this department wasn't very educated on this topic and that is scary. Not a lot of people understand the true meaning of sex trafficking nowadays and that is the problem. It needs to be brought to light and these families need to be heard. Knowing that this police department had all this mans information when it came to Laura Skelly and did nothing makes me sick. These officers need to be trained again and correctly this time. Knowing that most of sex trafficking victims are under 18 is very sad and traumatizing for parents with a teenager. Reading this article makes me very aware of how some people treat this topic and I hope everyone gets a chance to sit down and read what these individuals went through, you can learn a great deal from someone who has sadly experienced these things first hand!! -freckles007
I agree with you on the fact that most of our states aren't fully aware of how serious sex trafficking cases are getting! I feel as if those officers should be named and looked over. I feel like if they aren't do their job proper in this situation, then what other parts of the job are they screwing up. ^~^Itis007
I totally agree with you and its upsetting how many cases go ignored everyday because of lack of evidence. If they would have done a rape test they probably would have had a lead especially with any additional info. I think what itis007 said is eye opening because what if the same officers we are depending on to help and protect are the same ones committing these crimes. taco007
Human trafficking is a big problem, but one I’ve never thought about as serious as it is. Just like the article says, “Human trafficking is not only on the border of Mexico. It’s not only in Arizona and Texas, with young girls coming out of containers.” Human trafficking is all over. Recently, I’ve seen news articles and articles all over Facebook about girls being followed in cars, even around in Peoria and Pekin. There’s been reports about being followed around stores or cars. Human trafficking can even start just being alone in a bad neighborhood, or young females and males running away. The Fort Lauderdale police department seemed to not care about Mary Skelly and her daughter, and that’s extremely sad. As a citizen in a community, you feel as if you can depend on your local police department to help and keep you safe, and having them not care about a missing child, or the fact she was kidnapped, raped, and assaulted, is extremely upsetting and disappointing. Human trafficking is becoming more common, unfortunately, and I think some police departments need to learn to recognize it and jump into action sooner when there’s trouble. stlblues007
I agree with your statement about how it is disappointing that that the local department did not seem to care about the missing children. I feel like the officers should recognize the situations, deal with them properly and not blow them off. I wonder if anyone in the department has recognized the actions of the officers. Within recognizing the actions if they have taken any precautions, or have tried to change the way the the department is ran. For example, try and change the way it ran to how the other police department is ran. jw007
I feel like this article, “Sex Trafficking: South Florida”, really sheds some light onto the touch subject of human trafficking. Some of the things I have read in this article has shocked me! For instance, the fact that the police force of Fort Lauderdale didn’t show any effort of caring when the mom called in about her missing daughter and her car being missing! That’s insane, what case is more important than a minor running away, in a high sex trafficking area! I agree with what the detective said, the first 48 hours are huge. In that amount of time, someone could’ve gotten in a car and left that state. I feel that this police force in particular didn’t understand the severity or how common this issue was. So they were very poorly trained to handle a job like this. There are tons of examples we can use. There was two times where the police could’ve gotten evidence from the victim by using a rape test kit. In any rape case I’ve heard of, a rape test kit is almost always used! The fact that they didn’t even attempted to use it, proves to me that they didn’t want the extra paperwork, or turning this into a big case. They even threw the poor girl in jail. After everything that's happened to her, they throw her away and makes her think what happen to her was her fault. That’s not fair, and inhumane in my personal beliefs. Thank goodness for organizations like Global Childrens Rescue, created by John Rode, and his partner Justin Payton. They are trying to investigate any missing children case they can to put a bottleneck on these crimes. Crazy to think that at of all the human sex trafficking going on in Florida, almost half of those crimes are happening to minors. ^~^Itis007
This article has helped me better understand how large of a problem sex trafficking truly is. What I learned from this article was that sex trafficking occurs more than I realized, and it happens everywhere. Reading this article made me think of the news stories lately about girls being taken and who are now missing. This sort of crime is a huge problem. It really bothered me that the Fort Lauderdale police officers did not act as if they cared one single bit when the mother stated that her daughter was missing. I do not think that the police officers knew how to handle something like this quite right possibly. One more thing that I learned from this article is that sex trafficking is a bigger deal than most people realize, and that people are taken and put into sex trafficking all the time. This is a problem that we desperately need a solution for. KiiNG007
It is a shame that sex trafficking, with or without minors is such a large problem in the United States. I am glad people are finally stepping out of the shadows and telling their stories about their encounters with sex trafficking. Reading this article I found it informational. I did not know that a program like thrive existed to help those that have been subjected to sex trafficking. I do not understand why Fort Lauderdale has not and will not really address the issue of sex trafficking in the area. I wonder if the officers that are part of the human trafficking units have daughters. If so why do they just ignore and blow off leads when they get them to help get others children back home with their families. I understand that a majority of the females are runaways but that should not matter, the girls still have family that are concerned about them. Reading the stories made my stomach turn. It should not take a few days or even a week for a missing child's case get assigned to a detective. Everyone know the first 48 hours is the most critical. When I read that the police misidentified Laura I figured it was just an honest mistake but then I thought since it is a child wouldn’t they of went over the distripection again with her mother. When the mother stated that the police did not want to get the description of her daughter right it made me a bit mad and very concerned. I do not understand why the units did not want to try to get the missing children back. What would they do if it was their daughters that went missing. jw007
I agree with the article in saying that police departments can do more to combat sex trafficking: setting up dedicated task forces, following up on leads, and showing up when and where they say they will. However, combatting this doesn’t revolve around just merely training law enforcement officers. Communication across the entire police department is key. When a dispatcher tells someone an officer will meet him or her, then the date, time, and location should be recorded in a system. An officer should be assigned to that specific task of meeting with the victim’s family member. In the cases mentioned in this article that would be the mother(s). Should that officer become unavailable (dispatched to an emergency call, involved in a traffic stop, etc.) the complainant should be notified that the officer is running behind or may not make it at all. Additionally detectives should be better trained on how to deal with and treat juvenile victims. That way when a youth victim does turn up they may be more willing and able to give information and/or a statement. Hospitals should also be trained to recognize the signs of a possible trafficking victim, and have rape kits readily available. Now, while all of the points I’ve made probably sound really appealing, they all require a lot of time and money. Police departments would have to spend extra money on training of officers and detectives, and the same for hospitals with their nurses and doctors. Rape kits are a different problem all in themselves; take the State of Illinois for example: there are only three crime labs serving the entire state. In addition to testing the DNA from rape kits, these labs are also responsible for testing evidence from all sorts of other crime scenes (burglaries, homicides, etc.). There’s already a backup of DNA evidence in the system, and the more evidence that’s submitted, the longer the wait time is to get the results. There are a lot of variables that factor play into our ability to fight sex trafficking, such as better funding and allocation of resources, better/more training, and quicker processing of DNA evidence. -Redranger007
Sex trafficking has been an enormous problem in the United States and its finally been brought to light by some unfortunate but brave victims and their families. I like this article because it explains why it's such a problem, mainly targeting the higher authority and their lack of knowledge on the subject and signs that something is wrong or may cause need for investigation. I agree with the families,mothers in specific, who are upset because no action has been taken. It is a sad reality that in this world today, there are evils that are hard to detect or mitigate. Sex trafficking has fallen into that category mainly because of the fear that is bestowed into the victims such as if they talk they will die. I would be quite agitated and paranoid if I were in that position as well but it seems to me like the article is focused more on the lack of education in the law enforcement sector. Law enforcement personnel must be trained so much before they are even eligible for the job but the problem is that some crimes are not focused on as much as they should be. With that being said, I disagree with some of the parents and victims complaints because there is only so much a law enforcement officer can do. There are so many other crimes happening in the world today and it is quite hectic when it comes to trying to mitigate these problems in the court of law. While saying that ion the best way possible, it still doesn't sound like it is the right thing especially to the people who want justice. I'm afraid that without any hard evidence or investigative skills into the sex trafficking business, there is not much that can be done.
ReplyDeleteGVFF007
I think when we talk about the training of officers in our criminal justice classes it is healthy to take a step back and realize that we (or our classmates) are the future officers and are in the early stages of their training. So when we say that Law Enforcement Officers need to be better trained in situations of Human Trafficking this is where it ultimately begins, because we are reading these articles now and recognizing how prevalent the issues are and what is going on in these scenarios. So it may not be the entire police force taking one of their off days to go to a seminar to learn how to handle these situations but we can see that there is gradual change going on and I personally don't see the gradual change fading away. I think the people involved with Criminal Justice will only further their knowledge on this topic. -TaxSeason007
DeleteI agree that yes sex trafficking has been an enormous deal in this day in age, and it’s starting to come out because of brave victims like Mrs. Skelly who have a difficult situation to bring to the light because so much people don’t understand her pain, or even just within herself having to play it over and over in her head as she talking about it. As I said in my thought it is sad that social media make us surpass the fact that human trafficking can be going on simply down the street or even next door to someone’s house and it goes undetected.
DeleteStatechamp007
I agree with you when you say that sex trafficking has been an enormous problem in the United States and it has finally been brought to light by some unfortunate but brave victims and their families. In the past, sex trafficking was discussed as a problem, but not nearly as much as it should have been. In today’s world, more and more people are finally understanding and becoming aware of how big of a problem this really is. Thanks to more and more knowledge being provided to the public, people are becoming able to deal with situations similar to what has happened to people in the past and try to deal with sex trafficking in the best ways possible.
Delete-Fozz007
From my previous classes with Dr. White I was informed that human trafficking was a more serious and local problem than most people understand it to be. One of the examples that Dr. White had previously given was that there were some workers at a Dunkin Donuts or a Baskin Robbins or something of the sort who were a foreign couple or family that seemed to be completely normal employees but in reality they were victims of human trafficking and nobody even knew for the longest time. This article did give a more in depth look at what is going on in human trafficking, especially among young women. The tent city part of the article was incredibly hard to read because of the brutality of the situation as was the Club Space girl who found herself tattooed. My mind kept wondering "Where are their fathers?" The people who are meant to be their primary protector, are they in the picture or did they end up just feeling like they couldn't help the situation of their missing daughter? I know it's not fair to blame them for any of what happened though, that's not what I'm trying to do. It's just more of a thing where I have to try and empathize with the people who may be involved in this situation. The despondent attitudes from the police was also something that I found to be very off putting and because of it I think that people need to be much more serious about how they discipline their kids. Sure the police need to do a better job but police are almost a last resort in this scenario, it starts with protecting your own child from making mistakes like running away because the world is going to be brutal to the kind of people who seem like easy prey.
ReplyDelete-TaxSeason007
I understand where you are wondering where the fathers are doing these situations and it's sad to say that from what i've seen locally, it is usually single mother children who find themselves victim because quite frankly, that makes them an easier target without any hassle in the process. For these girls, it has been hard enough already but then they don't have a man to trust anymore which makes it even more unfortunate.GVFF007
DeleteI understand where you're coming from in the sense of better preparing our children for real life situations, For example we should inform our kids about social media and the very real dangers that come along with it as well as if your child were to be on their own in the world for whatever reason they should be informed on what precautions they should be taking to stay safe. Although i wouldn't confuse the lack of incompetence the detectives had in this case as a “sorry, no luck tried our best” on a last ditch situation. They made the situation worse because as the article said they didn't even start a couple of the investigation until after the first 48 hours and after that the likelihood of finding a missing child decreases immensely because 78% of abductors who kill children do it within the first 3 hours and 88% in the first 24. They shouldn't just have done better they should have done their job to begin with and if the things these mothers are reporting are true then they absolutely didn't. I don't agree that police officers should be looked at as merely a last resort because in most situations they are your only resort. As a mother in this situation you could have done every single thing right and it still could have happened. Your child, although young and inexperienced, is still a person capable of making their own decisions and you may have taken every step you needed to but they can still make the wrong one and you're not always able to prevent it, especially as they grow. we are supposed to be able to rely on law enforcement to do the job they signed on for and in my opinion, in this case if all is true, they did not.
Deletegray007
In the reading of the article, “Sex Trafficking: South Florida’s youngest victims” with in reading the first paragraph’s the Article stated some real key points that I do believe is a concern in some police departments or even in the society we live in. When thinking of human trafficking some people would think of the main states like Arizona, the border of Mexico etc. The reason being is because all of the movies, and news broadcasting mainly focusing on the main platform of human trafficking which would make you totally forget that a lot of runaways don’t be really gone far away, they be right up under our noses in the most bizarre places. Also, in the article John Rode states that “I think the problem is education within police departments” (https://thecrimereport.org/2018/07/23/sex-trafficking-south-floridas-youngest-victims/) not only do I believe that some of its true because if you’re not assigned to human trafficking as a positions within your department you aren’t dealing with human traffickers on the day to day basis so it would be more harder for you to pick up on the sign the one’s person had been involved in a very much heinous crime and put it together that yes she’s was considered a run away at first but within that same time frame she was also assaulted which then made her a victim. When she arrived back on her mother door’s step yes it’s fantastic that she made it home then you start to see bruises all over her body, then she got this tattoo that she didn’t have when she left, and then you go to the doctor and finds out she got chlamydia and the doctor don’t take a rape kit or the police don’t ask questions even after she gave a very solid and descriptive ID of the suspect I just don’t see how you this case didn’t get solved or if it did why did it take so long that’s one less creature off the street which would make little kids fear or have to worry about one less person.
ReplyDeleteStatechamp007
Due to the police not having anything to say at all about her case... I'm starting to wonder if by any chance that a police officer or someone in that force did something to her. In the article it said that when Laura was questioned she got pretty hostile. I may be stressing it but for some reason that gave me a feeling that they were apart of the abuse that she received. okurrr007
DeleteWhile reading the article about Sex Trafficking I have learned a lot of things that I did not know before. And I understand more as a future police officer that instead of just making a case as a runaway there should be more investigating going on and the way that the police handle it should be taken more serious then just waiting for the runaway child to show back up at home. Also police officers should make a report when there is a runaway teenager, that would not just be in the city but could be everywhere in the United States so it can be taken more serious. In Peoria IL there has been a young mother Alexis Scott that has been missing since September and it seem to me that the police have given up. In the Journal Star it states “We have no evidence to suggest that this is a murder or that she’s a victim of trafficking. We can’t tell one way or the other,” said the detective, who is urging people to help with the search. How would you investigate that? There has been so many statics that show that there is sex trafficking going on in the United States. Peoria police officer should just keep that in mind. This in my opinion if Alexis is in a sex trafficking situation its not like there is going to be a sign that says" We have taken Alexis Scott". I just feel like as a whole we should take it very serious then just a "runaway" situation. Law enforcement in the United States and also the parents of the runaway. Parents can prevent their child from running away if they listen, understand and pay attention to their child. Don't blame it on the child but blame it on yourself because as a parent you are supposed to protect, love and nurture also be their first teacher. It starts with you and how your children will react to things in life. Smiles007
ReplyDeleteI agree with you in the sense of learning much more about sex trafficking, and I think that's part of the problem. Not many people understand what sex trafficking is which is why we must educate our officers, parents, and even teenagers of the dangers that can come from making a rash decision like running away. Officers don’t know when to stop sex trafficking due to lack of education of the topic, they don’t know it may be happening right in front of them. I also agree strongly on working harder to find missing people. I think it is something that is looked over quite frequently and proof of that is seen throughout the article where the police did not visit the house the day the missing person report was filed. Jar007
DeleteOne thing that I found interesting from this article was the fact that the problem of dealing with sex trafficking is due to the lack of knowledge within both police departments and the public. When someone thinks of sex trafficking, they will most likely think of this occurring somewhere outside of the country. However, this is not the case. As a matter of fact, it is actually happening within multiple states in the country and even just within some cities alone. Another thing that stood out to me was the fact that for some of the youngest of them, victimization begins a few miles from home-within shouting distance of their families and beneath the radar of local authorities. This means that once these sex traffickers get these young girls, they aren’t shipping them to somewhere overseas like France. Most of the time, they are simply just being moved further up the road, so-to-speak. Further into the article, it is discussed how Mary’s daughter was a victim of sex trafficking in Florida and nearly nothing was done about it. Mary’s daughter, Laura, was missing for 10 days and returned having not showered once, had a tattoo, had contracted an STD, and had on completely different clothing. Mary was told by police that they would meet with her, and they never did. Also, Mary became irate when the hospital had the chance to conduct a rape test and did not do so. According to Mary, “Fort Lauderdale doesn’t view human trafficking as what it is”. This is a sad and confusing story to hear. It makes me wonder why the police treated this the way that they did and how basically nothing was done for Mary’s daughter, Laura. This story is a perfect example of how human trafficking is a big problem and many people do not see it this way, mainly because of the lack of knowledge needed to deal with the problem.
ReplyDelete-Fozz007
I agree with you that most pimps are not taking these girls out of the country. Which is very scary to think that this could be happening near you and you have no understanding of what is taking place. The other thing that was pointed out was that many of these girls are afraid to leave for the fear of dying. Which is quite a sad situation because under these certain situations I would feel the same way. They obviously know where you and your family live and if they dont they will beat it out of ya. Which is a very scary to think but it is the face of reality.
Delete-hollywood007
Those are exactly my thoughts. The fact that majority of these females experiences of trafficking, the people involved lived within walking distances of their residences. I think trafficking is one of the situations we just kind of think of it being a big issue and sad situation to be in but we don't really think more of it because 3"well it hasn't happened to me or my family". I think it takes a personal standpoint in order for it to be truly shocking and to do something about it and stand up. I think for young females it is also blown off in a sense if they run away or leave because "oh they just didn't like what mom or dad had to say" and they'll be back they're just pouting, regardless of age. No one immediately jumps to the fact that maybe something more is going on or there is something way serious happening. -notacop911
DeleteI completely agree with you on this! Due to lack of knowledge on this topic just puts more people into harm! Knowing that sex trafficking is happening in all over the world is a nightmare! Also knowing that these teens are only within miles of their homes is sad to even think about. This is a very sensitive topic to talk about and its just one that people feel bad for but wont do anything to help out and that is a terrible feeling! Sex trafficking can happen to anyone at anytime and if our society is uneducated about the topic then we are at risk! -freckles007
DeleteI found many interesting things in this article. The main idea that spoke out to me was that most police departments lack the knowledge of sex trafficking. Which also shows that we are not getting the right information out to the public. Most of the public believes that these “pimps” are taking girls out of the country to be sex trafficked there and the sad part is that most of the young women that are taken are just taken and placed just a few blocks from their actually home. This is occuring more and more right from under us and as a community are not understanding. Many of these girls are also able to walk freely but often feel attached to their pimp and unable to leave because they are afraid they will be killed. That's why most women don't run away from their abductors. This is becoming to be more frequent in the states and is rapidly increasing. Another concerning issue is that we don't have trained police in the streets that are able to recognize these girls. In this article we hear a story from a mother who reported her little girl missing and nothing was done about it. The young women came back ten days later with a tattoo, bruises and a STD. Which are clear signs of sex trafficking and rape, but nothing was done. No rape kit was done on her and no questions were asked. Which reveals the question of why police department are not doing anything to help this young women from harm or at the very least help lock away the ones who have done things to her. The public needs to become aware of this issue and help make certain that this doesn't happen because all it takes is one girl to run away from home and be picked up that will change her life forever.
ReplyDelete-hollywood007
I agree with you that most pimps are not taking these girls out of the country. Which is very scary to think that this could be happening near you and you have no understanding of what is taking place. The other thing that was pointed out was that many of these girls are afraid to leave for the fear of dying. Which is quite a sad situation because under these certain situations I would feel the same way. They obviously know where you and your family live and if they dont they will beat it out of ya. Which is a very scary to think but it is the face of reality.
Delete-hollywood007
^^^^I put the response in the wrong place. I answered the paragraph above mine.
Delete-hollywood007
I completely agree with you and the article the fear is all the pimps need to keep these girls from running away or contacting authorities because they are scared they will kill them. I would also agree that most of the public things that these girls are being taken out of the country because that is all the big news stations talk about when it comes to the topic of human trafficking.
DeleteRHB007
I had perceived human trafficking as what we see on the news or hear from others. I thought it was strictly when traffickers abduct or deceive someone to join their ring. I also was not aware of how large of an issue human trafficking is. I think it is a horrifying thought that this is happening in the world around us and how many young children have social media. I think social media has a lot to come into play since it is an outlet for kids to talk to people and children can be very naive. This article is very informative because it truly explains what human trafficking is and true stories of females that were subjected to it, as well as their families. I am very curious of what happened with the Police not providing as much interest in the case. Especially since the female was a minor. I feel like there was a lot more there not to the public's eye. It is very sad that such young females will have to remember their years of adolescents remembering such a rough time and what they had to go through. I think what is most unsettling of the situations these families faced is that their daughters seemed to have meant well and been in the wrong places at the wrong times and though their "friends" were true friends. A lot of young females try to find themselves during these years and are exposed to things that they have to define as right and wrong. When I was younger, I did not have any social media. Facebook was not really a thing. Now, children who can simply count have an instagram or facebook. It's easy for them to accept a friend request or follow, not understanding or caring who they just let into their social media life/world. It is extremely eerie. -notacop911
ReplyDeleteI believe that social media has made it even easier for these things to happen, with older men stalking young girls who don't put their account on private. I had this issue with my younger sister and when a guy that claimed to go to my school started messaging her and she told me about him, I had to tell her that I had never seen him in the school before and that she needed to block him before things went further. The world has gotten very scary lately. -CAPMARVEL007
DeleteI completely agree that social media has made it so much easier for these criminals to seek out young kids. Social media can be a very useful tool, but sometimes it shows its ugly side and thats where these criminals like to hide. Its a scary world we live in with these advancements in technology.
Delete-CUBFAN007
The extent to which sex trafficking has developed and spread recently terrifies many people including myself. Not only does it worry me for my personal safety but for my future children, my younger siblings, nieces and nephews, and my best friend's safety. It has me and many others worried for everyone's safety and it shouldn't be that way. The police department should be making you feel safer to an extent, that is their job, it's what they signed on for. But instead i almost feel more afraid with them having the jobs they do than i would without them because they give these families a false sense of security as if they are accomplishing something when they are not which only gets in the way of the families finding someone to conduct a real investigation because they think they are already getting one and they aren't. It wastes so much time which is very valuable in cases like these. They are doing little to nothing and It has gotten to the point where, in my personal opinion, in many cases and places we may as well just be letting it happen. The article demonstrates that Police departments take little to no interest in run away cases almost as if they believe the victims brought it upon themselves which is absolutely ridiculous especially in the case of minors whose brains are nowhere near fully developed but are being treated as if they should have known what to do and done better. Which in hindsight is so very hypocritical considering the detectives who were trained to help others and are being paid for such are doing virtually not a thing so realistically if anyone should be doing better it's them, granted this is a one sided point of view of the story and i've heard nothing from the detectives on the case on what level of effort they put in but focusing strictly on this article all i see is that they are failing at their jobs. When it gets to the point that the mother and sister of a victim are making more headway on a case than a trained detective being paid to do so it definitely should be opening some eyes and questions should be asked. This article completely broke my heart and i expected so much more from the investigators on these little girls cases. It's absolutely infuriating and i wish i could help these girls and their families more than anything because obviously no one else is.
ReplyDeletegray007
When we hear the words “sex trafficking,” as Americans we immediately think of women and children overseas who are being forced into the sex trade or who are brought into the United States for the purpose of sexual exploitation. We don’t usually think closer to home — Americans trafficked by Americans. But think about young women and even girls that you have seen late at night when you come home from work or a social event. Maybe you have seen them in the streets in short dresses and spike heels. It’s surprising to think, but I believe that there are several young prostitutes and sex workers out there that may have started or are even still part of the American sex trade. This isn’t generally a subject brought up by law enforcement or even news outlets even when the facts are right in front of them. If a woman says that she is a sex worker because “I have no other choice,” maybe it’s because she was forced into that life in the first place. To understand all aspects of sex trafficking in the United States, you have to open your mind and let go of what you have seen or heard on television. You need to let go of the media’s portrayal of the “joys” of street prostitution, and open your eyes to the violence and control the pimps and sex traffickers exercise over their victims, who are mostly girls and young women. This is something that many people do not either want or even know to think about. ECPAT USA (End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes)’, an Anti-Trafficking agency, states that the average age of entry into street prostitution is between 12 and 14 years old, though there have been cases of girls as young as 9 years old. I know that it is hard to fathom, but a child who should be playing with Barbie’s or learning from their older sister how to do makeup may be out of the street trying to make their “owner” happy right now. Until people realize that this is happening right under their noses, I don’t think it is going to get any better. -CAPMARVEL007
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you that Americans do not think of human trafficking being a major problem in the United States. They think it is just a problem overseas. I blame that on the median not informing us more on the cases that happen within our boarders. I really enjoyed reading your post. –ClarkKent007
DeleteThe article,Sex Trafficking: South Florida’s Youngest Victims was a intriguing and yet sad read. I was not aware of how big and bad it actually is in our country. The first part of the article stated some areas that I think is a concern for some police departments and even everyday society. The article mentions John Rode, a private investigator, and he says that the education is lacking on what and where sex trafficking is occuring. Many departments think that sex trafficking is just at the border or the states around the border. That is not the case according to Rode. It can be even in your community. This made me reflect on what could this mean for my future children. I shouldn’t have to worry in America of all places for my children playing and getting picked up by these animals. There needs to be more of a push to educate everyone on the matter. The poor girl and her family haven’t even gotten justice yet. I would be furious knowing that man was still out there and possibly ruining other girls lives.The other scary thing is the way these criminals use social media. A lot of the time this is where they find these young girls and seek them out, which is very scary and concerning. Social media can be a very useful tool in today's world but it also can show its ugly side and that's what we all need to be aware of. Overall, I thought the article was very informative and had good information. -CUBFAN007
ReplyDeleteI strongly agree with the social media interfering in situations like this. Older men take advantage of social media to come onto young girls. They make fake accounts pretending to be someone they are not, catfishing females. Even if the girls know they are older and make the wrong decisions talking to older guys, the men are still in the wrong coming for a young girl. Parents should also have more supervision on their child’s accounts being that young. They need to know what’s going on in their child’s life, knowing there are some crazy people out in this world. -pieface007
DeleteAfter reading this article I was surprised on how the police handled the situation and how much knowledge they lack on human trafficking. I was also surprised on how little knowledge I knew of human trafficking. I perceived human trafficking to be an illegal act that happens out of the United States in places such as France, and if it did happen in the United States it was few and far between. But in reality, it happens here in the United States frequently, worse yet the youngest of the victims are taken within shouting distance of their home, which is scary to think about. I blame the media for not informing us on how bad the trafficking is in the United States. They want to make a bigger deal on human trafficking outside the United States but in they need to keep us more informed on the cases that happen in the United States because it happens frequently within our states such as Florida, Arizona, and many more states. With human trafficking being a 150-billion-dollar operation you would think that there would be more training to combat this. I understand that the Police did not take Mrs. Skelly call to them serious because it was just a runaway child case. But not to take it serious after the daughter came back 10 days later beaten, bruised, tattooed, and had a STD was wrong of the police officers. Plus to not follow up on the information that the victim gave them is completely surprising and absurd. Even if that guy wasn’t a sex trafficker the chance to take him off the streets if he was should have been enough to follow up on the information. More training is needed so that police officers are more informed on human trafficking and can actually be prepared to do something about it. -ClarkKent007
ReplyDeleteI enjoy your train of thought on the matter. you are taking a very practical approach to the matter to the way the cops handled this. What do you think should have happened? There are a lot of ways that it could have been handled but are all of them correct is the question needing to be asked. Lots of ways to think about the situation at hand. -Robocop007
DeleteI agree with you on the media because I never really heard about human trafficking in the United States. I always heard about human trafficking being a big problem in other countries. I was shocked when I read that it was a 150 billion dollar operation and when I read about what some of the police officers did it makes me feel like they don't know a lot about this. I also agree that there needs to be more training. -SOCCER31007
DeleteSex trafficking has been a huge problem for a large amount of time. The problem has started with people not speaking out against the people who are doing it in fear that they will be put in more danger then they already were. These brave families finally started speaking out and helping the officers take action against this horrible problem that has taken place. With the information that has been gained from this family reveling what they went through the officers can better understand how to take down this problem and how to handle the after effects. If we know what is going on in these rings of traffic then we can better understand how to deal with them. Without this prior knowledge we would be blind to how often they operate, how they operate and it would be near impossible to stop them, let alone find them at all. Unfortunately this had to happen to someone to figure this out. I could not imagine going through this. With the information through what the person has said also claims that there are men, women, and children. This means this could happen to anyone of any age really. This means that extra security measures for everyone should be taken. Everyone should have some kind of training that shows them what to do in case they ever should find themselves in this spot or how to spot someone in this spot by specific keywords. -Robocop007
ReplyDeleteI thought there was a lot of interesting things in this article. I didn't know that human trafficking was that bad in South Florida and I didn’t realize that Florida was ranked number three in the country for sex trafficking. I didn’t realize that human trafficking mainly starts as a runaway case. When the article explained what Miami Dade County was doing to try and stop human trafficking, I thought they made a lot of progress. When they trained 5,000 police officers on the signs of human trafficking and what to do, I thought that was a great idea. Some people don't know the signs of human trafficking or what to look for or what to do. Training licensed doctors and nurses on human trafficking was a good idea too because they could be seeing a lot of human trafficking victims and they don't even realize it because they don’t know the signs. It seems like Miami Dade County has realized the extent of the problem and they’re making changes to try and fix it. I thought the stories that were shared were really sad. I thought the police officers and detectives in Fort Lauderdale didn't know much about it because I felt like they didn't seem very concerned especially since some of them didn't follow up on the information that was given to them by the parents that had the missing children. Laura’s mother reported her child missing and the police said they would come to her job that day and they never showed up. They were able to track one of the girls cell phones but the police department never followed up on it and she’s still missing. I think that if the police departments become more educated and trained on human trafficking, they could help a lot of people that are in danger and we can to eliminate the human trafficking. SOCCER31007
ReplyDeleteSex trafficking is a big problem all over the world. I feel like the police officers did not put any effort into finding the girls. They will never be able to understand how the parents feel until they are put in the same situation and one of their family members are missing. I wish they would treat these cases as if their child was missing. In the Peoria case of missing, Alexis Scott, it seems as though little has been done on behalf of law enforcement. Her mother, April Scott, has gotten further into the investigation than the Peoria Police Department. It is important for the community to hold law enforcement accountable for incomplete and poorly done investigations. Situations like this make me think that if I was in a life-threatening encounter, my family would be way more effective in assisting me than the police. There has been a time that I was at the gas station and a man came up to my car and knocked on the window demanding me to roll down the window. I ignored him and started to call my brother. The man continued to stand outside my car door and started to question me asking, “So you not gown roll down the window?”,” What’s your name”. Luckily, I spotted my step dad across the street at McDonald’s drive thru line and he came right over. As soon as the man realized I was talking on the phone he left the gas station and he was never caught. No one knows what could have happened or what he would have done if I did not see my step dad across the street. I am so grateful I was inside my locked car and help was nearby, but this situation still terrified me. Things like sex trafficking can happen to anyone!!! -pieface007
ReplyDeleteI 100% agree with you saying they will never ever understand until they are put through that situation. I am very glad that you are safe from your incident because who knows what could have happened. Thankfully your step dad was right across the street. stay safe!
DeleteMessi007
I feel that the cause of these cases start at the home..If a child is just so out of control please be a parent and stop YOUR CHILD. If they are wrong put them in their place so that same incident never happens again. Also, parents say some things or don’t say anything at all which will cause children to feel some type of way. That’ll cause us to question their love for us. I personally knew someone who went on this sites because she didn’t feel the love at home. So, in order to feel love from people she went online. One there, grown men were giving her the attention she desired. She was disrespectful to her mom then later on met up with someone who she met online and eventually, he raped her. I don’t believe parents know what the say or even don’t say to there child is very emotional. And as teenagers we are taking thing to the heart, and as a female at times we are emotional train wrecks. So we go online, meet someone who is telling us EVERYTHING we want to hear, then get hurt. If that’s the case, why isn’t sex trafficking illegal? My next perspective on this topic is the police need to take their jobs more seriously. As a child we are told that we always call 911 in case of an emergency. Right? So why is it that the young ladies, who’ve been taken advantage of, family can never receive answers right away from there child? “911 will always be there”. Well if that’s the case a missing persons report should not take a whole week to get processed. If you need a week to assign an officer to the case then I feel that means there aren’t enough officers to handle this case. Or maybe is the officer unprepared? Maybe better training should be enforced to upcoming officers to avoid this if sex trafficking cases ever happen again.
ReplyDeleteokurrr007
I agree that better parenting tactics can definitely be a good start, but unfortunately that may never happen. In towns like Miami, FL officers are slammed with calls involving drunken tourists, drugs, car wrecks, etc. The detectives may have a lot of cases already assigned to them, and they can only take on so many at one time. A lot of times it’s an administration issue that causes reports to back up and sit on desks. Redranger007
DeleteSex trafficking and any kind of human trafficking is an under rated problem. I feel it is often swept under the rug. Perhaps this is because an awkward uncomfortable and maybe sensitive issue. Many don't know how to discuss it. Often the only time it is brought up is in Hollywood and not in a realistic or serious manner. This may be why it is not handled by the Fort Lauderdale PD. It is so downplayed many police departments and law enforcement agencies are aware of the scope of the issue. Some may be well aware of the problem but know that it is difficult to prosecute traffickers and find or help victims. Even if the department knows there is little help to find a missing girl I believe it is still Important to put forth an effort or communicate with the victims family. If anything just to comfort them. Trafficking or kidnaping is traumatic for both family and victim. Law enforcement officers and agencies should be trained to handle these situations with tact. The public should also be more aware of the very real problem.-11bravo007
ReplyDeleteI think you’re right, that it is a sensitive issue that no one likes to talk about because no one knows how to properly handle it. I agree that any law enforcement agency should be trained correctly how to deal with these cases. Also knowing how to speak with a family or victim even though they probably can’t relate. taco007
DeleteA major thing that stood out to me at the very beginning of this article was that the mother was able to give law enforcement very specific information about the man who had raped her little girl and nothing came from that information. It was just a shock to me that there is nothing done about this situation. Which leads me into another part I found interesting, the fact that humans and or sex trafficking can mean the victim is being held right up the street. I would say that article hit it right on the nose once a local law-enforcement is just under educated about the real problems involving sex trafficking. About 90% of the time the only thing you hear about human trafficking is young girls being shipped overseas in cargo containers and I think that has led to the public and or law-enforcement thinking it takes place more at the international level. This is occuring more and more right from under us and as a community are not understanding. Many of these girls are also able to walk freely but often feel attached to their pimp and unable to leave because they are afraid they will be killed. There are many reason that young kids run away from home and it shows that from the fist hand account in this article that even running away just because something bad happened at home can turn into a horrific ordeal and it shows that local law enforcement need to learn how to spot these exploited children. It is also horrifying to think that a pimp can access these girls on social media and take advantage of someone who has posted something about her life not going well a pray upon that. This is yet again another reason as to why social media needs to be montarded by guardians of young children.
ReplyDeleteRHB007
I agree that social media is definitely a problem when it comes to sex trafficking. I think that more people need to monitor their children if they're on social media and aren't in high school yet. It's very easy to find out a lot about people these days, and that's scary to think about when it comes to these sex traffickers. -BuffaloChickenDip007
DeleteAfter reading this article I was very shocked at some of the things the police did, or didn't do. For instance, I can't believe that there was no rape kit test done at the hospital. I would think that the first thing the police would do when Laura arrived to the hospital would be to check for the suspected sex trafficker's DNA with a rape kit. I was also surprised that many of the women in sex trafficking aren't taken far away from their homes. I'd think that would make it easier for police to find the victims, but evidently not. I think that sex trafficking is definitely overlooked by law enforcement. There is a lot of women that go missing every day, so I understand it's difficult to get to every case. Maybe they should focus more on missing people and put more cops on patrol for them. There has to be a way to cut the time down in these searches, considering the first 48 hours are the most important missing children cases. This article also made me realize how easy it is for sex trafficking to happen. Almost no effort is needed from sex traffickers once they find a runaway girl. All they need is to capture her and scare them with threats about what will happen if they try to escape. The worst thing about these sex trafficking crimes is the after effects. Even if the police catch the trafficker or the girls escape, they are forever haunted by the event. Colleen Hernandez's daughter, Jane, left the sex traffickers addicted to cocaine, and Laura Skelly left with a giant tattoo on her neck that will be a constant reminder every day of her life. I think it's not only the police who need to take sex trafficking more seriously, but the public. If these girls were better informed on sex trafficking they might not have ran away in the first place. By better educating people we can better prevent these terrible crimes from happening in the future. -BuffaloChickenDip007
ReplyDeleteI agree with you if only there was more education and information about sex trafficking these situations could be prevented. I also thought the same thing about the DNA, if only there was a rape kit done that could have been used to find a match to somebody. Within those first 48 hours you can find so much crucial and valuable evidence and I believe you can be closer to finding that person. I also agree that those victims are always going to have those thoughts in their mind of what happened to them, in other words I believe they will be traumatized. Considering that was a very traumatic event that occurred in their life.
Delete21Miami007
In the article sex trafficking I was really surprised how there is lack of education about this topic. I knew there was cases of sex trafficking in the United States however, as the article states I thought it was more oversees where it is more common. The fact that most of the victims are under 18 is even more heartbreaking. From personal experience the sex trafficker will make the victim feel good, offer her money and promise her a good life but, in reality we all know it’s a lie but, to those victims that sounds like the perfect life they could have, its made up to sound glamours. I do feel as if there were certain things the police could have done to help find the young lady named Sara. When that phone started to ring they should have followed up on that immediately not days later. Like her mother said this is life and death situation your dealing with. It's even the little things such as when the cop car supposedly drove by her and kept going they could have saved her then. I don’t understand how they wouldn’t consider Jane a human trafficking case. She was sold for crack and being abused . In my opinion she was almost held against her will and was in extreme danger and fear to escape. I feel as if police and detectives really wanted to find the sex traffickers they could. For example with Laura, just with following up on that tattoo she had and matching it with other young girls who have been in her situation and, also with tips and if a rape kit would have been done there would have been DNA, that would have matched in the system somewhere. They could have took that evidence and other evidence in the system from previous cases and found a lead.
ReplyDelete21Miami007
After reading this article, it is very clear that most police departments have not taken the time to train officers and detectives on signs of human sex trafficking. And its not just in the United States, its primarily in third wheel countries. The one thing that did upset me reading this article is that the police literally had information on the 22 year old guy. Address, name, Instagram account, etc. Yet still nothing was done. It has become a huge thing in the Iowa area, when multiple girls have been missing for days and by the looks of it, it loos like they have given up on looking for them. Imagine being a parent and your kid goes missing and the cops just stop looking for them, you would be furious. The attention of human sex trafficking should be a bigger deal than it is because they have no control on what they do. And if we're going to be honest, it's not always just little girls too, its little boys as well. Law enforcement needs to step up on awareness of sex trafficking in general.
ReplyDeleteMessi007
I always thought that human trafficking was only when they brought people in and out from other countries. Now, knowing that it can be something so simple as being a block away from their house is unbelievable and even that there is more people being taken everyday. There is a lot more people being sold than I thought. There are many other problem officers have to deal with and it’s understandable why most cases are not looked at right away. In my opinion, I think that for the Fort Lauderdale police department wasn’t very diligent with the situations in front of them. I understand that Florida’s population is very large and they have a large caseload but for police officers knowing that the first 48 hours a child being lost is critical, they should have been more responsible and should have taken that opportunity to try. They shouldn’t have assumed that the kid would be back later even though it usually is like that. They could have been more considerate of the families, who were desperate in finding their daughters. Also, I think that girls from ages 10 to 15 go through and emotional phase making them a little defiant to their parents. They seek approval and attention from other people, not knowing they could regret it later because of immaturity. It’s unfair to me that one of the cases most likely couldn't be held in court because one of them agreed a few times to have sex with their perpetrator because he was hurting her. There might not be enough evidence to prove someone guilty in some cases but when they have enough evidence to make action there isn’t anything done. It isn’t fair for the victims and families that have to live everyday without seeing any kind of justice. taco007
ReplyDeleteI like what you had to say but, I believe that there needs to be more clear cut evidence of a human/sex trafficking crime(s) being committed. Crimes may be similar in nature but have different criminal penalties. I believe that law enforcement may be put on to a case that was not a sex trafficking case to begin with, and resources then get wasted. --YouMustAcquit007
DeleteThe text talks about the subject of there not being as much education within police departments. I agree with that statement. Not many people know a true definition of sex trafficking, which is a problem. If an officer isn’t trained or educated on what sex trafficking even is, then how can he or she make an attempt to slow it from happening, stop it from happening, and prevent it from happening. If we want this problem to stop, then we need to educate officers on what to look for, where to look, and how to prevent it in the future. The amount of teens that are being sex trafficked are growing, and if that means that we need to hire specific personnel in specific places to spot and stop sex trafficking, then I say it needs to happen. Sex trafficking is happening here in the U.S. and you don’t hear much about it on the news. With there being big cities in Illinois, like Chicago, Peoria, and East St. Louis, we need to keep an eye on sex trafficking in those places and others before it gets out of control and we have no chance of stopping it. Listening to the victim or tips from others will help as well. I find it very concerning that the police didn’t decide to stop by Mrs. Skelly’s house to ask questions or anything, and then once presented the name and much more information, not being able to apprehend the person responsible for committing this crime against this girl. I think that to limit and eliminate sex trafficking here in the U.S., we need to start educating officers and training them on what to look for and how to stop it when it’s happening. I also like the idea of the Special Police Units that work to eliminate sex trafficking in Miami, and i believe it would be beneficial to train a force like that for every major city so we can stay atop sex trafficking before it spirals out of control. Jar007
ReplyDeleteThe issue of sex trafficking in America has long gone ignored, articles such as the one that we had to read highlights what some victims and their families go through. Law enforcement has been left in the dark so to speak in terms of being properly up to date and educated on everything that entails and is related to sex trafficking. That can be blamed on lack of proper training, not enough funding, not taking victims who report sex traffic crimes seriously, etc. Sex trafficking is a crime that people/society do not want to think of or even want to talk about. People think, no not in my town, or no that will not happen to anyone I know. Then it does, people get affected, the evils of the world expose themselves. We should not as people treat or look down on someone who has been a sex trafficking victim.
ReplyDeleteLaw enforcement, is partly to blame for letting sex trafficking get to be such a major problem in America. Yet, people around America commit crimes every day and do not get caught. If law enforcement is properly educated on how to spot, identify, and properly investigate sex-trafficking crimes, than there would be more arrests and prosecutions. People need to speak up, victims, families of victims, etc. Parents need to talk to their kids about the world properly, and that evil things do happen to good people. Everyone looks and perceives the world that they live in differently.
Technology has a big part to play in sex trafficking, criminals always try to remain ahead of law enforcement. Law enforcement needs that technology along with the proper training necessary to combat sex trafficking effectively. Criminals, such as sex traffickers, are out in society. As crazy as that sounds, that is the truth. –YouMustAcquit007.
Sex trafficking is such a huge deal in our country and I feel as if it isn't taken very serious in some states. Reading about the Skelly's experience makes me very upset that Florida did not do a better job to look for this 13 year old girl. A child is a child no matter how troubled they seem to be, no one deserves to be raped, beaten, and threatened. Sex trafficking has gone ignored for so long and now it is getting worse and worse by the minute. reading this article highlights everything these poor mothers/ women went through and to know the police let these men go unnoticed really makes you wonder if they're trying their hardest to protect us. The text clearly shows that this department wasn't very educated on this topic and that is scary. Not a lot of people understand the true meaning of sex trafficking nowadays and that is the problem. It needs to be brought to light and these families need to be heard. Knowing that this police department had all this mans information when it came to Laura Skelly and did nothing makes me sick. These officers need to be trained again and correctly this time. Knowing that most of sex trafficking victims are under 18 is very sad and traumatizing for parents with a teenager. Reading this article makes me very aware of how some people treat this topic and I hope everyone gets a chance to sit down and read what these individuals went through, you can learn a great deal from someone who has sadly experienced these things first hand!! -freckles007
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on the fact that most of our states aren't fully aware of how serious sex trafficking cases are getting! I feel as if those officers should be named and looked over. I feel like if they aren't do their job proper in this situation, then what other parts of the job are they screwing up.
Delete^~^Itis007
I totally agree with you and its upsetting how many cases go ignored everyday because of lack of evidence. If they would have done a rape test they probably would have had a lead especially with any additional info. I think what itis007 said is eye opening because what if the same officers we are depending on to help and protect are the same ones committing these crimes. taco007
DeleteHuman trafficking is a big problem, but one I’ve never thought about as serious as it is. Just like the article says, “Human trafficking is not only on the border of Mexico. It’s not only in Arizona and Texas, with young girls coming out of containers.” Human trafficking is all over. Recently, I’ve seen news articles and articles all over Facebook about girls being followed in cars, even around in Peoria and Pekin. There’s been reports about being followed around stores or cars. Human trafficking can even start just being alone in a bad neighborhood, or young females and males running away. The Fort Lauderdale police department seemed to not care about Mary Skelly and her daughter, and that’s extremely sad. As a citizen in a community, you feel as if you can depend on your local police department to help and keep you safe, and having them not care about a missing child, or the fact she was kidnapped, raped, and assaulted, is extremely upsetting and disappointing. Human trafficking is becoming more common, unfortunately, and I think some police departments need to learn to recognize it and jump into action sooner when there’s trouble. stlblues007
ReplyDeleteI agree with your statement about how it is disappointing that that the local department did not seem to care about the missing children. I feel like the officers should recognize the situations, deal with them properly and not blow them off. I wonder if anyone in the department has recognized the actions of the officers. Within recognizing the actions if they have taken any precautions, or have tried to change the way the the department is ran. For example, try and change the way it ran to how the other police department is ran. jw007
DeleteI feel like this article, “Sex Trafficking: South Florida”, really sheds some light onto the touch subject of human trafficking. Some of the things I have read in this article has shocked me! For instance, the fact that the police force of Fort Lauderdale didn’t show any effort of caring when the mom called in about her missing daughter and her car being missing! That’s insane, what case is more important than a minor running away, in a high sex trafficking area! I agree with what the detective said, the first 48 hours are huge. In that amount of time, someone could’ve gotten in a car and left that state. I feel that this police force in particular didn’t understand the severity or how common this issue was. So they were very poorly trained to handle a job like this. There are tons of examples we can use. There was two times where the police could’ve gotten evidence from the victim by using a rape test kit. In any rape case I’ve heard of, a rape test kit is almost always used! The fact that they didn’t even attempted to use it, proves to me that they didn’t want the extra paperwork, or turning this into a big case. They even threw the poor girl in jail. After everything that's happened to her, they throw her away and makes her think what happen to her was her fault. That’s not fair, and inhumane in my personal beliefs. Thank goodness for organizations like Global Childrens Rescue, created by John Rode, and his partner Justin Payton. They are trying to investigate any missing children case they can to put a bottleneck on these crimes. Crazy to think that at of all the human sex trafficking going on in Florida, almost half of those crimes are happening to minors.
ReplyDelete^~^Itis007
This article has helped me better understand how large of a problem sex trafficking truly is. What I learned from this article was that sex trafficking occurs more than I realized, and it happens everywhere. Reading this article made me think of the news stories lately about girls being taken and who are now missing. This sort of crime is a huge problem. It really bothered me that the Fort Lauderdale police officers did not act as if they cared one single bit when the mother stated that her daughter was missing. I do not think that the police officers knew how to handle something like this quite right possibly. One more thing that I learned from this article is that sex trafficking is a bigger deal than most people realize, and that people are taken and put into sex trafficking all the time. This is a problem that we desperately need a solution for. KiiNG007
ReplyDeleteIt is a shame that sex trafficking, with or without minors is such a large problem in the United States. I am glad people are finally stepping out of the shadows and telling their stories about their encounters with sex trafficking. Reading this article I found it informational. I did not know that a program like thrive existed to help those that have been subjected to sex trafficking. I do not understand why Fort Lauderdale has not and will not really address the issue of sex trafficking in the area. I wonder if the officers that are part of the human trafficking units have daughters. If so why do they just ignore and blow off leads when they get them to help get others children back home with their families. I understand that a majority of the females are runaways but that should not matter, the girls still have family that are concerned about them. Reading the stories made my stomach turn. It should not take a few days or even a week for a missing child's case get assigned to a detective. Everyone know the first 48 hours is the most critical. When I read that the police misidentified Laura I figured it was just an honest mistake but then I thought since it is a child wouldn’t they of went over the distripection again with her mother. When the mother stated that the police did not want to get the description of her daughter right it made me a bit mad and very concerned. I do not understand why the units did not want to try to get the missing children back. What would they do if it was their daughters that went missing.
ReplyDeletejw007
I agree with the article in saying that police departments can do more to combat sex trafficking: setting up dedicated task forces, following up on leads, and showing up when and where they say they will. However, combatting this doesn’t revolve around just merely training law enforcement officers. Communication across the entire police department is key. When a dispatcher tells someone an officer will meet him or her, then the date, time, and location should be recorded in a system. An officer should be assigned to that specific task of meeting with the victim’s family member. In the cases mentioned in this article that would be the mother(s). Should that officer become unavailable (dispatched to an emergency call, involved in a traffic stop, etc.) the complainant should be notified that the officer is running behind or may not make it at all. Additionally detectives should be better trained on how to deal with and treat juvenile victims. That way when a youth victim does turn up they may be more willing and able to give information and/or a statement. Hospitals should also be trained to recognize the signs of a possible trafficking victim, and have rape kits readily available. Now, while all of the points I’ve made probably sound really appealing, they all require a lot of time and money. Police departments would have to spend extra money on training of officers and detectives, and the same for hospitals with their nurses and doctors. Rape kits are a different problem all in themselves; take the State of Illinois for example: there are only three crime labs serving the entire state. In addition to testing the DNA from rape kits, these labs are also responsible for testing evidence from all sorts of other crime scenes (burglaries, homicides, etc.). There’s already a backup of DNA evidence in the system, and the more evidence that’s submitted, the longer the wait time is to get the results. There are a lot of variables that factor play into our ability to fight sex trafficking, such as better funding and allocation of resources, better/more training, and quicker processing of DNA evidence.
ReplyDelete-Redranger007