The Challenges of Policing Human Trafficking in the U.S.
Law enforcement in the United States faces significant challenges in policing human trafficking. One of the main issues is the hidden and clandestine nature of the crime, as traffickers often operate in the shadows, making it difficult for authorities to detect and investigate. Victims are frequently moved across state and sometimes international borders, complicating jurisdictional matters. Moreover, many victims fear coming forward due to threats from traffickers, distrust of authorities, or a general fear of what might happen if they do.
Limited resources both time and manpower, lack of specialized training, and the complex web of legal, social, and economic factors surrounding trafficking further strain law enforcement’s ability to effectively combat this rapidly growing issue. Additionally, online platforms have become key tools for traffickers, adding a digital dimension to the problem that requires more sophisticated investigative techniques.
On average every day in the United States there are 150,000 new escort ads posted online. Hidden among these are ads for children and those being forced to participate in the sex trade. This is the mass number of ads we are expecting law enforcement to comb through looking for victims every day. Their limited resources make this impossible for most agencies.
Guardian Group exists to fill this gap.
By utilizing highly skilled analysts who specialize in Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) to gather Publicly Available Information (PAI) to identify potential victims of sex trafficking to law enforcement. This is just a fancy way of saying Guardian Group has a team of analysts who are extremely good at gathering and analyzing the things people freely post on the internet to identify victims of trafficking.
The information we collect is put into a Publicly Available Information Report (PAIR) and passed to our law enforcement partners. These reports act as a tip and contain the identified individual and valuable account information that can be used by law enforcement to identify force, fraud, or coercion if sex trafficking is occurring. In essence, the report provides the necessary reasonable suspicion needed for law enforcement to do the things only law enforcement can do (search warrants, subpoenas, etc…) and investigate further. Once trafficking is determined an officer can quickly take action. Resulting in more victims offered a path to freedom.
“We simply don’t always have the officers available to do this kind of work, it is specialized, it is technical and we just don’t have the people on staff that have the experience dealing with it and so for us to be able to take the information from highly skilled analysts at Guardian Group who knows how to do their research and homework and gather Open Source Intelligence for law enforcement is a great way for us to leverage the information and have an impact in our local community.” – Iowa Police Chief.
How You Can Help Stop Human Trafficking
There are three ways you can get involved in this fight.
- Connect Guardian Group to Law Enforcement – We currently focus our efforts in the areas where we have a law enforcement partner ready to take action. If you want our analysts to focus efforts in your area connect us to your local law enforcement officers.
Active US Law Enforcement Sign Up Here
For officers who would like a bit more information, share this link.
- Volunteer for Project 1591 – If you have some level of OSINT skills and want to donate time to helping identify victims online, sign up and volunteer today!
- Join Team 1591 – For just $15.91 per month you can help support the expansion of Guardian Group’s internal Analysis Team. By increasing this team, we will increase the impact across the nation.