Human trafficking in Georgia : a survey of law enforcement

GEORGIA BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION (GBI)
Human Trafficking in Georgia: A Survey of Law Enforcement
Assessing Georgia Law Enforcement's Awareness of and Involvement in Human Trafficking Activity
Meredith Bailey, M.S. Criminal Justice, Criminal Intelligence Analyst Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI)
Jennifer Wade, M.A. Religious Studies, MPP, HSIN Coordinator Georgia Emergency Management Agency / Office of Homeland Security (GEMA/OHS)
5/1/2014
Acknowledgements: Special thanks to the law enforcement agencies for their willingness to participate in the survey which serves as the basis for the findings contained in this report. The GBI wishes to acknowledge Erin Marsh, doctoral candidate in Criminal Justice & Criminology and Dr. Mary Finn, Professor of Criminal Justice, both from Georgia State University, for their assistance in the survey design. The viewpoints expressed herein are those of the authors listed above and the GBI.

Executive Summary

Human Trafficking in Georgia: A Survey of Law Enforcement
Georgia Bureau of Investigation

The magnitude of the human trafficking problem in Georgia and the greater southeastern United States region is both difficult to measure and perhaps even more difficult to combat. The transient and elicit nature of the crime complicates investigations and many law enforcement agencies are unaware that trafficking may be occurring in their communities. Further confounding the issue is Georgia's robust tourism and agriculture industries which present traffickers with an opportunity to profit. Further, the transportation infrastructure throughout the state to include the major highways, ports, and international airport enable the easy movement of victims. Lastly, there are unique challenges to identifying and treating human trafficking victims that require advanced training and specialized data collection requirements not readily available to most law enforcement agencies.
To better understand these issues, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) conducted a study, Human Trafficking in Georgia: A Survey of Law Enforcement. This report presents the findings of a survey of Georgia law enforcement agencies as to the number of sex and labor trafficking investigations during the year 2012. Moreover, this study serves as a baseline assessment of the Georgia law enforcement community's knowledge and perceptions of human trafficking activity. The ultimate goal is to better understand human trafficking issues unique to Georgia and to equip Georgia law enforcement with the knowledge and resources to more effectively detect such crimes and assist victims.
The 206 participating agencies reported a total of 190 cases of human trafficking in which at least one victim was identified (oftentimes cases have more than one victim). Of those 190 investigations, the majority involved the sexual exploitation of children, almost one-third involved adult sex trafficking, and only a few labor trafficking cases (involving both minor and adult victims) were documented.
In addition to providing specific numbers, the survey also included questions regarding the prevalence and impact of trafficking in order to better understand law enforcement's unique perspective and knowledge of the crime. This revealed some common misconceptions and factors that could be hindering the ability of law enforcement to effectively recognize and mitigate human trafficking. Lastly, the results of the survey were presented to a group of state and local investigators from specialized human trafficking work units during a facilitated roundtable discussion. The group's conclusions are presented in this report.
While Georgia is nationally recognized for its progressive legislative framework combating human trafficking, recommendations for future research, resources, and training initiatives are presented for consideration. This report should serve as encouragement to find new means by which law enforcement can more effectively combat human trafficking activity in their jurisdiction.

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Human Trafficking in Georgia: A Survey of Law Enforcement
Georgia Bureau of Investigation
Contents
Introduction..................................................................................................................................... 3 Scope............................................................................................................................................... 3 Background ..................................................................................................................................... 3 Key Findings ................................................................................................................................... 4 Methodology ................................................................................................................................... 5 Assumptions and Limitations ......................................................................................................... 6 Literature Review............................................................................................................................ 8 Law Enforcement Survey Analysis .............................................................................................. 10
Cases and Statistics................................................................................................................... 10 Opinions and Perceptions on the Issue of Human Trafficking ................................................. 14 Victims' Service Providers Parallel .............................................................................................. 30 Understanding the Disparity between Police & Victim Services ................................................. 31 Current Climate of HT in Georgia Today..................................................................................... 32 Policy Implications and Recommendations.................................................................................. 32 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 35 Appendix A References ......................................................................................................... 37 Appendix B ............................................................................................................................... 38 Appendix C ............................................................................................................................... 39 Appendix D ............................................................................................................................... 41
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Human Trafficking in Georgia: A Survey of Law Enforcement
Georgia Bureau of Investigation
Introduction
Human trafficking is a crime and a human rights abuse in which subjects use force, coercion, or fraud to compel victims into servitude or commercial sexual exploitation. Commonly referred to as "modern-day slavery," victims include children as well as adults, U.S. citizens, or non-U.S. citizens. While it is largely assumed that human trafficking is both widespread and underreported in the State of Georgia, these assumptions are unsubstantiated by research. Existing law enforcement knowledge of human trafficking in the state is primarily anecdotal, and often based on individual cases or media accounts. In addition, there is minimal intelligence sharing with regard to such cases and it is believed that many human trafficking incidents are overlooked due to the fact that law enforcement is not adequately trained or informed on the issue. Furthermore, studies conducted by other states have found that many human trafficking crimes go unreported to law enforcement (TBI & Vanderbilt, 2011). Therefore, in order to effectively combat such crimes, it is essential to first quantify and understand the human trafficking problem in Georgia.
Scope
The general goal of this study is to explore the extent to which human trafficking occurs, the degree in which law enforcement is trained and able to recognize incidents and to identify additional measures to mitigate such problems. The study is being completed in phases, with this preliminary report (March 2014), and the final, multi-agency component set to conclude in the fall of 2014. The majority of information comprised in this report was collected through voluntary survey instruments used to explore the scope of human trafficking in Georgia, however it is not an exhaustive reflection of all the possible cases or instances of human trafficking in the state. 1 To date, this study serves as the most current and comprehensive effort to quantify human trafficking activity in the State of Georgia.
Background
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) partnered with Georgia State University (GSU) in an effort to develop a survey mechanism aimed at quantifying the extent to which Georgia law enforcement agencies investigate human trafficking in addition to overall awareness of human trafficking activity within their jurisdictions. During the initial phases of the survey planning, GBI personnel met with the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (CJCC) and the Governor's Office for Children and Families (GOCF) who were also conducting separate research on the issue. It was mutually agreed upon by all three agencies to conduct a joint statewide research study that would comprehensively assess the extent and prevalence of human trafficking in the State of Georgia. Each agency engineered individual but complimentary components of the larger study. For purposes of this report, only the survey and roundtable research of the GBI is presented. The comprehensive study findings with CJCC, GOCF and the University of Georgia's Carl Vinson Institute will be published in a report set for publication later in 2014.
1 This study was conducted as a means to work towards quantifying human trafficking by developing a baseline assessment of available resources.
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Human Trafficking in Georgia: A Survey of Law Enforcement
Georgia Bureau of Investigation
Key Findings
Human trafficking does occur in Georgia. This criminal activity takes the form of sex trafficking as well as labor trafficking and victims are both adults and minors.
There is a significant disparity between the number of victims documented by law enforcement (190 cases with at least one victim) and victims service organizations (more than 500 individual victims). This disparity is attributed to a number of factors including, but not limited to, organizational differences, victim-specific issues, and an inability to effectively identify and treat victims.
Existing law enforcement documentation of human trafficking is overwhelmingly related to sex rather than labor trafficking. While narratives and case studies reveal that labor trafficking does in fact occur in the state, it is not readily recognized as a problem by law enforcement due to investigative limitations or insufficient resources.
The majority of victims accessed services or were documented by agencies within nonrural areas of Georgia. Victims' service providers are primarily located in areas with higher population density, while law enforcement agencies in these areas tend to be larger and more likely to have specialized work units dedicated to these crimes.
The majority of human trafficking victims identified in this study were domestically trafficked whereas it is a widely held misconception (amongst local law enforcement and the general public) that non-U.S. citizens are the most frequent victims of trafficking.
Federal and state agencies are responsible for the majority of documented human trafficking cases within law enforcement entities. Only a few local law enforcement agencies had quantifiable documentation of human trafficking activity within their jurisdictions. Furthermore, the majority of local law enforcement had no formal documentation of any human trafficking victims or cases in the year 2012.
A slight majority of Georgia law enforcement agencies do not feel adequately trained to handle cases or recognize indicators of human trafficking activity. However, an overwhelming majority of law enforcement (91%) would like to be contacted about available training initiatives. In other words, law enforcement agencies acknowledge a need for change in addressing human trafficking, and express an interest in doing more should such training be made available.
Common misconceptions and lack of understanding could be further hindering the ability of law enforcement to effectively recognize and mitigate human trafficking. Appropriate training initiatives would likely improve law enforcements' ability to detect and respond to such activity.
The Polaris Project recognizes Georgia as a "Tier 1 State" for its progressive legislative framework combating human trafficking, but also highlights additional laws that could be enacted to bolster the state's statutes (Polaris Project, 2013). 2
Georgia law enforcement officials dedicated to human trafficking initiatives are generally satisfied with existing legislation aimed at prosecuting trafficking offenders but do acknowledge a need for increased training and awareness within the law enforcement community in addition to more accessible services for victims.
2 The Polaris Project is a leading human trafficking advocacy group that operates the National Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline, conducts research and trainings on trafficking issues, and provides services to victims.
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Human Trafficking in Georgia: A Survey of Law Enforcement
Georgia Bureau of Investigation
To effectively combat human trafficking, each of us needs to have a clear "lens" that helps us understand what human trafficking is. When this lens is clouded or biased by certain persistent misconceptions about the definition of trafficking, our ability to respond to the crime is reduced. It is important to learn how to identify and break down commonly-held myths and misconceptions regarding human trafficking and the type of trafficking networks that exist in the United States. Polaris Project
Methodology
This assessment used a mixed-methodology of quantitative and qualitative components. The study employs law enforcement and victim service provider surveys in addition to a series of facilitated roundtable discussions and focus groups. 3 Adapted from the State of Tennessee's assessment questionnaire (TBI & Vanderbilt, 2011), a survey was developed and distributed to state and local law enforcement agencies (Police Departments, Sheriff's Offices and state divisions such as GBI regional offices) in addition to the Atlanta Field Offices of DHS and FBI. Quotes from both the survey and the roundtable (featured throughout this report but anonymized) were provided voluntarily and serve to provide specific examples of law enforcement perspectives. These quotes do not reflect the views of either the Georgia Bureau of Investigation or Georgia State University.
With regard to the law enforcement survey, a total of 783 agencies (619 police departments, 159 sheriff's offices, three state law enforcement agencies, and two federal agencies), initially received cover letters and electronic access to the survey. 4 However, in an effort to increase the response rate for those agencies deemed "most likely" to have documented or encountered human trafficking activity, 538 of those 783 agencies were offered multiple opportunities to take the survey. GBI personnel made direct follow-up appeals to these 538 police departments and sheriff's offices in an effort to increase the response rate of the target sample. Two hundred and six (206) agencies ultimately completed the survey for a response rate of 38% of the target sample (the 538 agencies) or 26% of the initial release recipients. The 206 agencies responded from 138 of the 159 counties in Georgia. It should be noted that the 21 missing counties were largely rural areas and did not include any significant populous area. (See Appendix B for map of responses by county).
The roundtable discussion was held at GBI Headquarters in September 2013 and featured participants from state and local agencies that serve on specialized task forces or work units dedicated to human trafficking, or the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC).
3 Focus groups are scheduled for multiple regions of the state in 2014 and will feature representation from law enforcement, social services, court entities and victims' service organizations. This preliminary report only features findings and conclusions from the survey component of the research and a September 2013 roundtable discussion. Findings from focus groups will be included in the Fall 2014 report. 4 The 619 police departments are the 619 agencies belonging to the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police.
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Human Trafficking in Georgia: A Survey of Law Enforcement
Georgia Bureau of Investigation
Participants were provided with a brief review of the survey results prior to having a facilitated group discussion featuring topics including, but not limited to,: existing laws, current training, resources and treatment for victims, traffickers and customers (supply and demand) and international vs. domestic incidence.
Survey Instrument and Data Collection The survey was administered through SurveyMonkey, a web-based service providing measurement instruments and survey tools. The web survey was available from April 15, 2013 through August 31, 2013. All data was then downloaded and analyzed using SPSS software. All recipients received the same series of questions with the exception of a bank of scenario questions. 5 Quantitative analysis is presented throughout this report in both narrative and graphical format.
The original dissemination of the survey was conducted on behalf of the GBI by the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police (GACP) and the Georgia Sheriff's Association (GSA) and reached 783 agencies. 6 These two associations maintain the most current list of contact information for law enforcement leadership and were the most likely means of reaching those in a position to act on the survey. Follow-up appeals to complete the survey were made to the 783 agencies via the same two professional associations. After the GACP and GSA distributions, GBI personnel directly appealed to 538 of those 783 agencies. The 538 agencies were considered the target sample. (See Appendix C for additional information regarding the survey's dissemination and data collection, to include the cover letter text issued to potential respondents).
Assumptions and Limitations
As in any research study, there are a number of assumptions to be considered when presenting findings and drawing conclusions. To begin, while respondents were presented with a definition of human trafficking prior to taking the survey, their response was largely based upon their preconceptions of the term `human trafficking'. There was no measure of how equipped respondents were to answer questions on the issue. Instead, the survey introduction and cover letter recommended,
"The most appropriate person to complete this survey may be one that has knowledge about or access to cases your agency has worked that involve exploitation of children, sex crimes, or forced labor in your jurisdiction. Should your agency have a vice unit or special victims unit, you may want to consult with them or designate the most appropriate person to complete this survey."
5 The Scenario Section featured three scenarios, each with two versions (versions having differences based on gender, age, and other variables). Questions for this section were randomly selected to ensure respondents only received one version of each scenario. 6 Emails including a link to the survey and a cover letter attachment were provided to recipients.
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Human Trafficking in Georgia: A Survey of Law Enforcement
Georgia Bureau of Investigation
As such, respondents likely represent a variety of backgrounds ranging from little to no training or knowledge regarding human trafficking to those investigators who serve on specialized task forces for such activity. Along those same lines, participants in the survey may have varying degrees of understanding as to what human trafficking is and the impact on victims. For purposes of the survey, the definition of human trafficking was presented directly as it is written in the Official Code of Georgia (O.C.G.A), however as in any survey, respondents may interpret the provided definition according to preconceived notions. O.C.G.A 16-5-46 states:
A person commits sex trafficking when he/she: a) recruits, entices, harbors, transports, provides or obtains another person to engage in sexually explicit conduct, or knowingly subjects a person to engage in sexually explicit conduct, for which anything of value is directly or indirectly given, promised, or received by any person; b) uses coercion or deception to induce or obtain sexually explicit conduct from another; or c) induces or obtains sexually explicit conduct from a minor person age 17 or younger).
A person commits labor trafficking when he/she recruits, harbors, transports, provides or obtains another person to perform work of economic or financial value through use of coercion or deception. This can include threatening bodily harm, exposing information that places another person at risk, destroying government identification of documents of a person, providing a controlled substance to compel them into service, or threatening financial harm, or promising benefits to a person with no intent to deliver such benefits.
Predominantly, law enforcement agencies operate independent of one another and their respective case management systems vary significantly, with some capturing statistics that allow for analysis (such as this survey component) and others that do not. For instance, only a handful of agencies have a category to document "human trafficking" on incident reports or within their case management systems. Even among those agencies, cases are not always easily identified as such. Furthermore, documentation does not always differentiate victim demographics of age (minor or adult) or gender. Therefore, many agencies must rely on a manual review and calculation of certain crime types. This leaves room for error and decreases the likelihood that agencies will be able to dedicate the time or efforts required to thoroughly analyze their reports and provide accurate responses to questions. For purposes of this study, GBI survey administrators reached out to agencies and offered to assist with a review of their respective systems. Most agencies completed the survey without GBI assistance, and (as the report indicates) had no cases of trafficking documented. Other agencies conducted internal reviews of their cases with designated personnel in order to complete the survey. The difficulty of reporting and collecting accurate statistics on human trafficking is a common limitation throughout trafficking research as identified by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (2011), and the Wisconsin Department of Justice Report (2013) who recognize that, "with the exception of federally-funded task forces, there is currently no standardized way to report cases on a local, state or federal level."
Lastly, these findings are only specific to Georgia agencies and are not generalizable on a regional or national scale. Further analysis is needed in order to assess individual state results as
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Human Trafficking in Georgia: A Survey of Law Enforcement
Georgia Bureau of Investigation
compared to one another. Meanwhile, conclusions and recommendations in this report refer only to the State of Georgia, its law enforcement agencies and the jurisdictions they serve.

Literature Review
Knowing the scope or magnitude of a problem is critical to effectively combating the issue. While human trafficking is a pervasive problem veiled by the nature of the crime, it is likely underestimated by local and national statistics alike. In fact, human trafficking victims are frequently referred to as the "hidden population" of crime, hence the difficulty of finding accurate data on the extent and nature of the crime, let alone specifics about the trafficking victims themselves (Rocha, 2012; McGaha & Evans, 2009). Research efforts such as this statewide study are critical to identifying these gaps, understanding human trafficking trends unique to Georgia, and calling attention to the needs of both law enforcement and victims.
Current Estimates: Domestic and Abroad
Human trafficking is defined by the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA, 2000) as the "recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for one of three purposes: labor or services, commercial sex act through the use of force, fraud, or coercion, and any commercial sex act if the person is under 18 years of age, regardless of coercion." Due to the black market nature of human trafficking, exact statistics on the amount of human trafficking victims do not exist. Estimates on human trafficking victims range from 600,000 to 800,000 victims trafficked annually across international borders worldwide (U.S. State Department, 2005). This number includes victims trafficked for sexual and labor exploitation. The initial estimates of international victims trafficked into the United States were approximately 50,000 individuals (TVPA, 2000). A more recent estimate was found by the U.S. Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report (2006) which reported 14,500-17,500 individuals trafficked annually into the United States. While this number indicates a great many of individuals are trafficked into the United States, even more alarming is the possible number of victims trafficked within the United States' borders. Estes and Weiner (2001) estimated that around 300,000 American youths are at risk for sexual exploitation and around 200,000 minors have been sexually exploited annually. While staggering, this does not begin to address the possible number of adult U.S. citizens trafficked.

While the exact number of victims in the United States cannot be determined, federally-funded task forces opened a combined 2,515 suspected incidents of human trafficking in the United States from January 1, 2008 to June 30, 2010 (Banks & Kyckelhahn, 2011). 7 Allegations of adult prostitution made up 48% of the reported sex trafficking incidents, while 40% involved the alleged prostitution of a child or child sexual exploitation. Banks and Kyckelhahn (2011) also monitored open human trafficking cases for one year and found that for 714 sex trafficking cases only 30.5% (or 218 cases) were actually confirmed as human trafficking during the one year study. Suspects were identified in 279 of those 714 sex trafficking cases. Only 139 individuals were arrested and only 16 of these offenders were arrested by the federal government (9 offenders were arrested by both state and federal), although most offenders were arrested by the

7 Suspected incidents include allegations or reports that had not yet been investigated or confirmed.

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Human Trafficking in Georgia: A Survey of Law Enforcement
Georgia Bureau of Investigation
state. Law enforcement officers find it easier to confirm sex trafficking when the victims are under the age of 18 as they do not have to prove coercion. Proof of coercion, fraud, or force is required by the TVPA (2000) when adults are involved. In fact, 64% of cases were confirmed not to be human trafficking and 66% of those with a `pending confirmation' status involved adult victims.
Challenges to Georgia Law Enforcement Statistics and case studies have brought the issue of human trafficking to the forefront of domestic and global human rights and law enforcement campaigns, to include the State of Georgia. Many major criminal justice agencies recognized the media and public outcry to stand against trafficking and allocated substantial resources to specialized enforcement. However, the issue of policing this crime proved to be challenging with regard to implementing policy and even more challenging to measure its success. Due to media and public attention, questions arose about the degree to which police had effectively used funding and enforcement strategy to rescue victims or prosecute traffickers, given the fact that there were fewer than expected adjudicated cases. In 2012, the Atlanta Journal Constitution (AJC) featured an article about "how government officials have charged into the fight against human trafficking without a clear sense of who is being exploited and how," (Mariano, 2012). Police began working to identify victims, but audits by the Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General found few if any formally documented cases or identified victims. These discrepancies are primarily attributed to organizational or administrative differences amongst agencies, and difficulties associated with identifying and treating victims.
Organizational Differences Police agencies can vary significantly from one another in terms of their administration, policy and general approach to interacting with their respective communities. To begin, recordkeeping databases are (for the most part) independent of one another and there is no absolute standardization in terms of defining victims, offenders, and crimes. Some collection efforts by federal agencies, most notably the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports (UCR), allow for consolidation and analysis, but such numbers are based upon the originating agency's classification of the case. Therefore the policy and protocols of a single department can have significant impact on initiatives such as human trafficking. The fact that there has been limited training with regard to human trafficking has led to a lack of understanding of the overall issue, including why and how victims are recruited, controlled and exploited, in addition to the indicators law enforcement can utilize in the field.
This lack of understanding coupled with limited training often leads to law enforcement's (from chiefs to frontline officers) misconceptions on the subject. Examples of these misconceptions include, "that sort of thing doesn't happen here," "it's a choice the person made," or "it's prostitution." Perspectives such as these affect the likelihood that frontline officers will be actively searching for indicators of trafficking activity, let alone pursuing investigations or seeking training on the matter. Lastly, human trafficking investigations often involve a substantial amount of intra-agency (i.e. vice units working with missing/runaway investigators) and inter-agency cooperation (across municipal, county, state or even international jurisdictions).
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Human Trafficking in Georgia: A Survey of Law Enforcement
Georgia Bureau of Investigation
Such investigations can be a drain on financial and manpower resources, especially when considering the fact that these cases often require `high-tech' equipment or computer forensic specialists due to the nature of the crime. Overall, most law enforcement agencies are often not innately equipped or trained to handle trafficking cases. Training and resources are needed for departments to effectively combat such crimes and assist victims.
Identification and Treatment of Victims Human trafficking, by its very nature, produces victims that are atypical, often not looking or behaving in ways law enforcement or the public would expect someone to "cry for help." Investigators specializing in these cases explain that victims may often be uncooperative, resistant, aggressive or even hostile to police. These behaviors are attributed to the fact that victims are typically dependent (financially, emotionally, and even physically) on their traffickers and truly fear law enforcement. Victims of trafficking rarely seek out police assistance for a number of reasons including, but not limited to: the overwhelming trauma and fear they experienced over the course of their exploitation, dependence on their trafficker, a general lack of understanding of their rights or the fear of being charged as a criminal themselves. These reasons are often compounded in foreign or non-U.S. citizen victims who may fear deportation, encounter language barriers, or fear law enforcement and immigration agencies. For these many reasons and more, police often have difficulty proving force, fraud or coercion (in order to make adult trafficking cases) or even encountering minor victims.
Law Enforcement Survey Analysis
Respondent Information Two hundred and six law enforcement agencies responded from 138 of the 159 counties in Georgia. Both the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Atlanta Field Office (and their regional offices) and the Department of Homeland Security's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) also participated in this survey assessment.
The majority of responding local agencies (approximately 67%) reported having less than 40 sworn officers. This is consistent with existing census data on the size of Georgia law enforcement agencies, as only a handful of departments cover the larger, more populous areas and employ the majority of sworn personnel. In a 2004 census of state and local law enforcement, approximately half of the agencies employed less than 10 sworn officers per department, meaning half of the agencies accounted for approximately 5% of the national populace of sworn personnel. In contrast, almost two-thirds of sworn personnel were employed by the 6% of agencies that employed 100 or more officers (Reaves, 2007).
Cases and Statistics
In the calendar year 2012, local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies operating in Georgia identified at least 190 cases of human trafficking, with 105 of those being minor sex
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Georgia Bureau of Investigation
trafficking cases. 8 Sixty-eight of those cases were classified as adult sex trafficking investigations, 5 cases were minor labor trafficking investigations and 12 defined as adult labor trafficking cases.
It is important to note that law enforcement documents cases rather than victims. While some responding agencies provided the number of identified victims per category, most agencies provided the number of cases reported to or investigated by that department in which at least one victim was identified. Such cases could potentially identify more than one victim, but not all agencies document or quantify numbers of victims per case. Therefore, for purposes of this study, the more conservative number was utilized. The following is a breakdown of the survey findings specific to case documentation.

Minor Sex Trafficking Adult Sex Trafficking Minor Labor Trafficking Adult Labor Trafficking Total

Local 40 9 5 1 55

State 29 0 0 0 29

Federal 36 59 0 11 106

Total 105 68 5 12 190

Law enforcement record keeping is inherently difficult to compare to other agencies, namely victims services, since victims are not documented without articulation of a criminal nexus (for victims' sake). The numbers of cases documented in this survey should be seen as conservative counts in which "at least one victim" was identified, but it is possible that these cases could include numerous victims that are otherwise not counted (above). Some agencies have no means of documenting human trafficking, opting instead to classify such cases as prostitution-related offenses. Other agencies may have human trafficking labels for casework but have no means to differentiate between the types of victims identified (e.g. minors or adults, females or males). In addition to case management issues, there is confusion over terms and definitions that would properly categorize the activity as "trafficking." The inconsistent use of terminology is further complicated by the common misconceptions held by law enforcement regarding victims of human trafficking activity.
There are any numbers of reasons law enforcement may have limited understanding or knowledge as to the true extent of human trafficking activity in their respective agencies' jurisdictions (explored throughout this report). Georgia's study anticipated a significant portion of the responding agencies would have little to no quantifiable documentation (cases, investigations or reports) regarding human trafficking. However, the study also hypothesized that some of those same agencies with no documentation of trafficking may have documentation of crimes such as minor prostitution that may have been misidentified. To account for this, the survey included a segment of questions aimed at highlighting activities which may indicate trafficking but may not otherwise be recognized as potential trafficking by law enforcement.
8 Respondents were asked how many cases of human trafficking had been reported to or investigated by their agency for each victim type. These statistics are for cases and do not represent the total number of victims identified by law enforcement.
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To begin this section, respondents were asked "During the 2012 calendar year (from 01 January 2012 through 31 December 2012), how many cases of prostitution-related offenses (e.g., pimping, pandering, criminal solicitation) have been reported to or investigated by your jurisdiction?" Respondents were then asked a series of questions that referred to this total prostitution offenses question and were asked to provide answers by gender breakdown. These questions were as follows:
With those 2012 prostitution-related offenses (Question #11) in mind, how many cases involved minors (persons age 17 or younger)?
With those 2012 prostitution-related offenses (Question #11) in mind, how many cases involved persons who are undocumented/do not have legal status in this country?
With those 2012 prostitution-related arrests (Question #11) in mind, how many cases involved the prostitute being intimidated or controlled by a pimp to include the threat of/actual use of physical harm?
With those 2012 prostitution-related arrests (Question #11) in mind, how many cases involved gang activity?

Prostitution Cases Involving...
Minors
Undocumented or non-legal status individuals
Intimidation or Control by Pimp through threat of/use of abuse
Gang Activity

Minor Males
3 1
0 1

Minor Females

Minor Transgender

TOTAL MINOR

130

1

134

4

0

5

100

1

101

1

0

2

Adult Males
11
1 0

Adult Females

Adult Transgender

TOTAL ADULT

-

-

-

34

0

45

70

0

71

3

0

3

Likewise, a segment of questions aimed at labor trafficking was included. Questions were framed in a similar way to the previous bank of questions on prostitution related arrests. Respondents were asked, "Since January 1st, 2012 December 31, 2102, how many persons arrested by your agency did not have legal status or were undocumented?" A note was included with this question that stated, "We recognize there is no way to accurately count the number of times an officer with your agency encounters or interacts with undocumented persons; therefore this question applies only to ARREST data." The next five questions referred back to this total number of arrested persons "Thinking only about that population of arrests in calendar year 2012 that involved persons who did not have legal status or were undocumented..." and are as follows:
How many claimed that their immigration document or government identification had been destroyed or taken from them by another person?

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How many claimed that they were prevented from returning to their home country by another person who physically restrained or confined them, or threatened or caused physical harm to them, if they left?
How many claimed that they were performing labor to pay off a debt, but the employer never reduced the debt owed to reflect their services?
How many involved offenses related to kidnapping or false imprisonment? Now, still thinking only about the population of arrests in calendar year 2012 that
involved persons who did not have legal status or were undocumented: o How many of these cases involved adult (age 18 or over) men? o How many of these cases involved adult (age 18 or over) women? o How many of these cases involved male minors (age 17 or younger)? o How many of these cases involved female minors (age 17 or younger)?
Limited analysis could be done with this section of questions because the majority of agencies have no way to document whether persons arrested or encountered by an officer have legal status as citizens. As such, respondents had no way to total or even estimate the number of arrests of undocumented or non-legal persons. Therefore, this section of questions went largely unanswered by respondents as they had no reliable means to provide even reasonable estimates. From the limited number of responses that were available, it was determined that no sound analysis could be conducted. What can be taken from the lack of answers to this section of questions is the knowledge that labor trafficking cases are even less-likely to be documented or discovered by law enforcement due to the fact that victims of labor trafficking are often found to be part of immigrant communities.
To augment the survey questions, this study also examined the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) tip line for the incidence of reports related to human trafficking activity. The HSI tip line is a venue for the public, private sector, and law enforcement to report crimes and suspicion of criminal activity either on the phone or over the internet. When possible, sources of information are interviewed by investigative analysts to extract the entirety of available information. As a result, it is noted that the HSI tip line cannot derive an accurate confidence assessment based on the information provided from callers. The HSI tip line operates independent of the National Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline which is featured in Polaris Project reports. 9
For purposes of this study, a request was submitted to HSI asking for the number of reports concerning human trafficking in the State of Georgia that were called into the HSI tip line between 2011 and 2013. According to the agency's response, the tip line received a total of 27 such reports during that time period. Of those 27 reports, 20 referenced sex trafficking while only seven referenced labor trafficking. Ten of the 20 sex trafficking reports involved or alleged minors to be the primary victims of the trafficking activity. Reports of sexual exploitation over the two years typically involved either a trafficker selling individual females or a massage parlor housing multiple victims where sex was offered as a service. It was noted that minor sex

9 The NHTRC statistics are available to the public via the Polaris Project at http://www.polarisproject.org/resources/hotline-statistics

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Georgia Bureau of Investigation

trafficking victims are more likely to be exploited by a single pimp than an establishment, such as a massage parlor. The reports of labor trafficking involved alleged victimizations at locations such as beauty salons, farms or other agriculture-based establishments, and other random businesses. HSI noted that minors were much more likely to be involved in trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation than forced labor. Information provided by HSI also reiterated the fact that the internet is commonly used to promote human trafficking, specifically sex trafficking. Information provided by HSI was used to supplement the analysis of this study's survey data and roundtable discussion and is featured throughout this report.
Opinions and Perceptions on the Issue of Human Trafficking Law enforcement agencies have a unique perspective on societal problems and criminal activity. In addition to providing numbers specific to human trafficking, responding agencies were asked a series of opinion-based questions regarding the issue.
When asked, "Based on your agency's experience, how often would you say that HT occurs, not just in your jurisdiction, but throughout the state of Georgia?" about 32% said it happens "Extremely rarely" or "Rarely." To the other extreme, only five percent said human trafficking "Happens all the time." The bulk of responses fell in the middle of the spectrum and were split into whether the issue "Happens Sometimes" (32%) or "Happens Often" (31%).

How often would you say that human trafficking occurs, not just in your jurisdiction, but throughout the state of Georgia?

35%

32%

31%

30%

25%

20%

19%

15%

13%

10%
5% 5%

0% Extremely Rarely

Rarely

Happens Sometimes

Happens Often Happens All the Time

Significance: For purposes of this research, these findings confirm the fact that a significant portion of respondents (32%) do not perceive human trafficking as a problem in Georgia. The related concern to this statistic is whether an agency's perception or belief of a problem has any bearing on their likelihood of responding to that type of criminal activity. In other words, if an officer believes human trafficking only occurs in very rare instances throughout the state, would that officer be any less likely to recognize suspicious activity that might indicate trafficking or
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would he/she potentially treat trafficking activity as another crime such as prostitution? Future research is needed explore how perceptions of this issue influence officer decisions and behavior.
The other collective 63% of respondents that were split almost evenly between the answer "Happens Sometimes" or "Happens Often" could potentially represent a portion of the Georgia law enforcement community that is ambivalent or undecided about human trafficking, especially as it pertains to their respective jurisdictions. While it is important to educate the percentage of agencies that do not believe human trafficking is a problem in Georgia, it is arguably just as important to reach out to agencies that are more familiar with the issue. Such outreach initiatives would likely benefit all sizes and types of law enforcement agencies and are likely to be most effective when tailored to individual levels of decision-making within a department (i.e. command staff or street-level officers).
In addition to asking about the perceived prevalence of human trafficking, participants were asked two questions regarding which of four victim categories were most often or least often trafficked in Georgia. The first question asked, "Based on your agency's experience, please select the following demographic group you believe are most often victims of human trafficking in Georgia?" The survey subsequently asked, "Based on your agency's experience, please select the following demographic group you believe are least often victims of human trafficking in Georgia?" Each question included the following options to select: Adult non-U.S. citizens, adult U.S. citizens, minor non-U.S. citizens, and minor U.S. citizens.
Which demographic group are MOST OFTEN victims of human trafficking in
Georgia?

Minor U.S. Citizens, 21%
Minor Non-U.S. Citizens, 35%

Adult Non-U.S. Citizens, 37%
Adult U.S. Citizens, 7%

Adult Non-U.S. Citizens Adult U.S. Citizens Minor Non-U.S. Citizens Minor U.S. Citizens

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Which demographic group are LEAST OFTEN victims of human trafficking in Georgia?

Minor U.S. Citizens 17%

Adult Non-U.S. Citizens 6%

Minor Non-U.S. Citizens 13%

Adult U.S. Citizens 64%

Adult Non-U.S. Citizens Adult U.S. Citizens Minor Non-U.S. Citizens Minor U.S. Citizens

As indicated in the preceding charts, the majority of respondents believe that non-U.S. citizens (referred to as "foreign" throughout remainder of the report) are more likely to be victims of trafficking than U.S. citizens (referred to as "domestic" for the remainder of the report). In terms of responses, foreign adult victims (37%) and foreign minor victims (35%) were the two categories most frequently trafficked in Georgia, for a total of 72%. Similarly, when asked whom they thought to be the least likely trafficked, 64% of respondents said "adult U.S. citizens," 16% of respondents believe domestic minors are the least often trafficked, while14% said foreign minors and 6% said foreign adults.
Significance: These findings suggest that a specific perception exists among the majority of responding law enforcement that human trafficking victims are most often foreign. Such perceptions could potentially influence whether police recognize human trafficking activity or mistake it for other criminal activity such as prostitution. In other words, there is a discrepancy in what type of victim law enforcement expects to see and what type of victim local service organizations are actually encountering.
Minors and Prostitution Specific to the issue of child sex trafficking, the survey asked, "To what extent do you agree or disagree with the statement, "Minors should not be charged with the crime of prostitution?" The available responses were, "strongly disagree," (11%) "disagree," (32%) "slightly disagree," (17%) "slightly agree," (20%) "agree," (14%) or "strongly agree" (6%). For purposes of this report, researchers examined these findings in a general sense, due to the fact that there is no accurate way to interpret how respondents differ in their degree of ambivalence. In other words, responses were dichotomized, or collapsed into two categories: "Agree" or "Disagree," in order to control for ambivalence within the responses. Such a practice of data analysis provided this
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study with a baseline understanding of whether law enforcement falls into one of two general categories, rather than attempt to analyze the difference between a "strongly disagree" and "disagree" response. Throughout this report, the specific breakdowns of responses will be provided in the text, while graphs and charts will reflect the Agree or Disagree category with the proper notation.
Going back to whether or not law enforcement agreed or disagreed with the statement, "minors should not be charged with prostitution," 43% of responding agencies disagreed (32%) or strongly disagreed (11%). Essentially, this means that 43% of agencies believe that law enforcement should be able to charge minors with prostitution. Another 21% were either in agreement (14%) or strong agreement (7%) with the statement while approximately 37% responded with a somewhat ambivalent "slightly agree" (20%) or `slightly disagree" (17%). Again, for purposes of this specific report, researchers were more interested in establishing a general baseline of the extent to which local law enforcement was in agreement or disagreement with the idea of minors being charged with prostitution. Future research can examine the nuances of this matter.
Minors SHOULD NOT be charged with prostitution: agree or disagree

"Disagree" Category
60%

"Agree"Category 40%

"Agree"Category
Includes "Strongly Agree," "Agree," and "Slightly Agree," Responses
"Disagree" Category
Includes "Strongly Disagree," "Disagree," and "Slightly Disagree," Responses

Significance: The fact that such a percentage of law enforcement falls into the disagree category
is concerning in the sense that it speaks to the difficulties law enforcement encounters when
dealing with victims of human trafficking (discussed further into this report) and the lack of understanding some unique characteristics of trafficking victims. 10 The 60% of respondents with
the "disagree" opinion speaks to a mindset or perspective that minors can and do engage in

10 See Challenges to Georgia Law Enforcement section on page 9

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prostitution freely and willingly. Many find the notion of a child prostitute or self-exploiting minor unbelievable; adopting a view that any minor 17 or younger engaged in prostitution is inherently a victim of human trafficking and incapable of exploiting themselves. In fact, the TVPA (2000) defines any commercial sex act as human trafficking if the person is under 18 years of age, regardless of whether any form of coercion is involved, whereas adult prostitution is not considered human trafficking unless it is proven that the victim was coerced. Not all law enforcement adheres to this definition and some incidents involving minors may not be investigated thoroughly enough to uncover the trafficking or exploitation nexus and an otherwise well-intentioned officer may treat the incident as prostitution.
On the other hand, in light of the challenges local law enforcement encounters when dealing with trafficking victims and prostitutes (as discussed earlier), it is understandable that law enforcement would not be in favor of further restrictions on their intervention or arrest options. Generally speaking, law enforcement is unlikely to be in favor or any restriction that takes away their power to arrest, regardless of such a restriction's intent. Investigators participating in this study's roundtable discussion also acknowledge that police may view their power to arrest as a tool to force intervention with the ultimate goal of getting the victim into services (September 2013 roundtable). Other comparable state-level studies feature similar commentary on the notion that some police believe arresting a victim is necessary in order to pull them away from traffickers and escape the cycle, (Wisconsin Department of Justice, 2013). Whether or not such a practice is effective or ethical is not for this report to decide (future research will need to explore that issue). However the knowledge that such a practice may occur is useful in understanding the current extent to which police interact with victims. In conclusion, police are not going to be in favor of any limitations regarding arrests or formal charges as it can be limiting to their day to day work. Therefore, it is somewhat expected that law enforcement would be not be in favor of any rules restricting such options. However, a complicating factor may be that some police are of the mindset that minors can willingly engage in prostitution, or self-exploitation and therefore are not always a victim, but could be an offender. As such, arrest should always remain an option available to law enforcement.
It is important to clarify that this finding does not suggest local law enforcement agencies are purposefully ignoring signs of trafficking and charging them with prostitution, but rather for a variety of reasons, local law enforcement does not always have the training or resources to uncover a trafficking nexus to individual incidents. These reasons are compounded by the transient or highly mobile nature of the crime, and the larger fact that the typical trafficking victim is combative with law enforcement. As previously noted (see Challenges to Georgia Law Enforcement section, page 9) certain victim characteristics can lead police to misinterpret the situation as something other than trafficking. Without the proper training of these types of cases and special victims, an otherwise well-intentioned and seasoned officer (especially one that may hold some common misconceptions) could identify an incident as simple prostitution when it may in fact be a case of human trafficking.
Perceived Rates of Human Trafficking Activity There seems to be some confusion amongst law enforcement as to whether human trafficking activity is actually increasing, or if the media and public attention is just calling more attention to
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the original issue. When asked to what extent the respondent agreed or disagreed with the statement, "Human Trafficking in Georgia is increasing every year," 71% "agreed" (42%) or "slightly agreed" (29%). An additional 16% "strongly agreed" with such a statement. Disagree category responses only added up to 13%: "slightly disagree" (8%), "disagree" (2%) and "strongly disagree" (3%).
Human trafficking in Georgia is increasing every year: agree or disagree
"Disagree" Category, 13%

"Agree" Category,
87%

"Agree" Category
Includes "Strongly Agree," "Agree," and "Slightly Agree," Responses
"Disagree" Category
Includes "Strongly Disagree," "Disagree," and "Slightly Disagree," Responses

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However, when asked how they agreed with the statement, "The rate of human trafficking in Georgia has not changed, but has received more media and/or government attention," 61% agreed with: "strongly agreed" (4%), "agreed" (27%), or "slightly agreed" (30%). While 39% disagreed with: "strongly disagreed" (3%), "disagreed" (16%) or "slightly disagreed" (20%).
The rate of human trafficking in Georgia HAS NOT changed, but has received more media
and/or government attention: agree or disagree

"Disagree" Category, 39%
"Agree" Category, 61%

"Agree" Category
Includes "Strongly Agree," "Agree," and "Slightly Agree," Responses
"Disagree" Category
Includes "Strongly Disagree," "Disagree," and "Slightly Disagree," Responses

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Similarly, when asked to what extent the respondent agreed or disagreed with the statement, "Human Trafficking in Georgia occurs in rural areas (counties less than 50,000 in population)," 42% fall into the "disagree" category with: "strongly disagree" (5%), "disagree" (15%), and "slightly disagree" (22%). In other words, approximately 42% of the respondents do not think human trafficking occurs in rural areas (it should be noted that Georgia is the ninth largest state with a significant amount of rural geography). On the other hand, the 58% that fall into the "agree" category with: "strongly agree" (7%), "agree" (26%), and "slightly agree" (25%) represent a considerable proportion of law enforcement which acknowledge that human trafficking is not restricted to urban areas.
Human Trafficking in Georgia Occurs in Rural Areas: Agree or Disagree

"Disagree" Category, 42%
"Agree" Category, 58%

"Agree" Category
Includes "Strongly Agree," "Agree," and "Slightly Agree," Responses
"Disagree" Category
Includes "Strongly Disagree," "Disagree," and "Slightly Disagree," Responses

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A portion of those respondents who acknowledge trafficking occurs in rural areas still agree that it is more predominant in urban areas. When asked to what extent they agreed with the statement, "Human Trafficking is more prevalent in urban areas," the "Agree" Category grew to 92% with "strongly agree" (21%), "agree" (49%), and "slightly agree" (22%) respectively. Only eight percent of respondents "strongly disagreed" (1%), "disagreed" (3%), or "slightly disagreed" (4%) with this statement.
Significance: In conclusion, while there may be disagreement as to whether trafficking occurs in rural areas, an overwhelming majority of responding law enforcement agree that "Human Trafficking is more prevalent in urban areas," and these perceptions could very well impact how rural or suburban agencies prioritize human trafficking enforcement.
Human trafficking in Georgia is more prevalent in urban areas: agree or disagree
"Disagree" Category, 8%

"Agree" Category, 92%

"Agree" Category
Includes "Strongly Agree," "Agree," and "Slightly Agree," Responses
"Disagree" Category
Includes "Strongly Disagree," "Disagree," and "Slightly Disagree," Responses

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The survey also included a bank of questions taken directly from State of Tennessee's assessment questionnaire (TBI & Vanderbilt, 2011) gauging respondents' opinions related to laws, sentencing, and penalties for human trafficking. The questions (included in the table below) asked officers to rate their level of agreement (response options were the same as previous questions in the survey, listed as "strongly disagree" "disagree" and "slightly disagree," to "slightly agree," "agree," and "strongly agree") with statements on the law. 11 (See next page for chart).

Additional laws are needed to combat human trafficking (sex trafficking and labor trafficking) in Georgia.
Graduated sentencing of offenders should be enacted in relation to the age of the victim. (Example: a person charged with sexually exploiting a 12 year-old would receive a longer sentence than a person sexually exploiting a 17 year-old).
Asset forfeiture laws regarding human trafficking against "Pimps" and "Johns/Tricks" should be strengthened.
Persons who are convicted of patronizing prostitution where minors are involved should be registered as a sex offender.
Enhanced penalties for the crime of human trafficking should be enacted for restricted areas (For example, not within 1,000 feet of a school, daycare, etc).
"Compassionate custody" laws should be enacted, which would allow for the confinement and treatment of a minor engaged in human trafficking instead of charging them with the crime of prostitution.

"Agree" Category
Includes "Strongly Agree," "Agree," and "Slightly Agree," Responses
80%
86%
98% 98% 95%
88%

"Disagree" Category
Includes "Strongly Disagree," "Disagree," and "Slightly Disagree," Responses
20%
14%
2% 2% 5%
12%

Significance: From the findings displayed in the table above, it was clear that the majority of Georgia law enforcement is in favor of stronger, harsher punishments for human trafficking offenders. This suggests that law enforcement generally is supportive of laws and penalties that punish human trafficking activity.
Referral, Training and Preparedness Questions Law Enforcement Referrals The survey also included a section of questions asking if and how agencies would contact other agencies for assistance, reporting or training purposes. To begin, the survey asked, "Should a sworn officer with your agency come across an incident or case they suspect to involve human trafficking, which (if any) of the following agencies would you contact for assistance or reporting: Federal Agency, State Agency, Local Task Force, or Other?" A statistically
11 For purposes of this report, responses were dichotomized, or collapsed into two categories: "Agree" or "Disagree," in order to control for the inability to account for ambivalence within the responses. Such a practice of data analysis provided this study with a baseline understanding of whether law enforcement falls into either of the categories, rather than analyze the difference between a "strongly disagree" and "disagree" response.
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significant number of survey participants did not answer this question and the response rate was too low to allow for the same empirical analysis as laid out through previous segments of this report. 12 Researchers were not able to determine whether some respondents left this question blank because they did not want to answer the specific question or if they were noting that they would not reach out to any other agency. In hindsight, the survey should have included an option of "my agency would not contact another agency," to control for this question. However, a breakdown of the available responses is included in the table below to provide an idea of the most common responses. Most notably, of those that provided free text responses, the most common response was to contact the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) on a state level, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) if an inter-state nexus was discovered.

"Should a sworn officer with your agency come across an incident or case they suspect to involve human trafficking, which (if any) of the following agencies would you contact for assistance or reporting:
Federal Agency State Agency Local Task Force Other

Number of Agencies
39 124 27 12

Victim Service Referrals
The survey also asked respondents about referrals to victims' services in past cases investigated by the participants' agency. A significant portion of these questions were left unanswered by participants, most likely because they had previously answered that their agency had zero cases or investigations of human trafficking. Therefore, respondents did not answer the questions which began, "If you investigated or prosecuted cases involving human trafficking..." and resulted in a significant portion of missing responses for this question.
The survey asked "If you investigated or prosecuted cases involving human trafficking; were victims referred to services (counseling, treatment, housing, healthcare, etc)?" The question then asked respondents to `choose at least one of the following answers: "Yes, victims were referred to counseling," "Yes, victims were referred to treatment," "Yes, victims were referred to housing," "Yes, victims were referred to health care," "No, victims were not offered services because none were available for victims," "No, victims were not offered services because of lack of insurance," "No, victims were not offered services because my department is not aware of available services in this geographical area," or "No, victims were not offered services because of other reason" with the last option having a free text box to write out a clarification. 13 Without enough answers to this question, researchers were not able to do a proper empirical analysis of the data. In lieu of such statistical analysis, responses to these questions were reviewed and several general findings were noted.

12 Only 137 of the 206 participating agencies answered this question, therefore no further analysis was conducted. 13 This response option, "No, victims were not offered services because of another reason," asked the respondent to "please specific other" and a free text box was open for participants to write in an explanation. A free text option was not available on the other response boxes, but some respondents used this free text option to clarify other responses chosen.
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These findings reflect the fact that the vast majority of local Georgia law enforcement agencies had not investigated cases involving human trafficking, nor had they encountered trafficking victims and therefore did not provide responses regarding victim referral. Of those who did provide written responses to this question, the most common responses included wording such as, "Our agency has yet to work any cases related to this type of crime," or "We have no such victims in our county." The metro-Atlanta based agencies with specialized task forces or personnel for such cases seemed to have established contacts with victims' services, having checked all boxes for referrals to counseling, treatment, housing and healthcare.

Significance: The few agencies that work these cases have referral channels with service organizations and use them regularly, while the majority of agencies are simply not working such investigations or identifying victims. Lastly, the least selected type of victims' service used by law enforcement was housing. Twenty-nine agencies indicated they had referred victims to counseling, 24 of those same agencies had referred victims to treatment programs, and 21 of those agencies assisted with access to healthcare while only 15 of the agencies indicated that victims had been referred to housing services.

"If you investigated or prosecuted cases involving human trafficking; were victims referred to services? Counseling Services Treatment (Drug or Alcohol) Services Housing or Shelter Services Healthcare Services

Number of Agencies
29 24 15 21

Law Enforcement Request for Victim Intake Center Discussion amongst participants of this study's roundtable included the topic of referrals to victims' services and reinforced the finding that housing is one of the most difficult resources to arrange for victims. Participants discussed the frustration they experience when victims are encountered in the middle of the night (as human trafficking victims commonly are) and police are unable to locate safe housing options. This is further complicated when victims have young children in their care, and some victims' service organizations are not able to take in the children as well as the victim. When faced with the decision to turn their children over to Georgia's Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) in order to access services, victims often refuse such housing or treatment and return to their situation or insist on being arrested over any alternatives. 14
For this reason, Georgia law enforcement has expressed the desire to have a 24/7 operational intake center dedicated to human trafficking victims. Such centers would ideally offer law enforcement a place to transport victims (day or night), conduct interviews, allow for the appropriate medical personnel to conduct exams, and provide ample bed space and time for social services to respond to the victim. State and local investigators who regularly work these
14 The Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) is responsible for welfare and employment support, protecting children, foster care and other services to strengthen families. It is the division of the Georgia government responsible for taking custody of minor children when deemed necessary.
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cases ranked this need as critical, and agreed that such a center should be a priority to have in Georgia. Additionally, state and local investigators remarked that rural areas of Georgia had little to no services for victims, and these same areas have law enforcement agencies that are unfamiliar with the problem. Therefore, a substantial portion of the state could have victims that have gone undetected by law enforcement and who have been unable to access services.
The survey also asked, "Is your agency familiar with any non-profit or faith-based organizations/groups that work to combat human trafficking or provide resources to human trafficking victims within or near to your jurisdiction?" Respondents were provided a space to write in any such organizations or groups to allow researchers to compare law enforcement responses with participants in the parallel victims' services survey. The most common organization mentioned was the Georgia Care Connection (GCC). GCC is a statewide initiative of the Governor's Office for Children and Families that serves as a single point of service organization that identifies commercially sexually exploited children (CSEC) and links them to services. In addition to GCC, some respondents listed faith-based or church-organized groups (Out of Darkness being the most commonly mentioned) and several listed general rape or sexual assault crisis centers. Only a handful of agencies (22 in total) named an actual victims' service organization. Other responses cited other law enforcement agencies or state agencies such as DFCS (neither of which are actual victims' service providers) while the significant majority of survey respondents did not have any to list.
Significance: This indicates a gap exists between law enforcement and the available victims' resources throughout the state. While some law enforcement agencies are aware of a few organizations, the vast majority of agencies do not have established relationships with victims' services, nor do they acknowledge a need to since the agencies have little to no documentation or awareness of trafficking activity.
Law Enforcement Preparedness The last segment of training-related questions on the survey asked respondents about the degree to which their department, agency or office is adequately trained to handle investigations or recognize indicators of human trafficking. The statements asked respondents to rate how strongly they agreed or disagreed with the following: "My department/agency/office is adequately trained to handle cases involving sex trafficking," "My department/agency/office is adequately trained to handle cases involving labor trafficking," and "My department/agency/office is adequately trained to recognize indicators that could suggest human trafficking activity is ongoing." Responses ranged from "strongly agree," "agree" and "slightly agree" to "slightly disagree," "disagree," or "strongly disagree."
With regard to being adequately trained to handle sex trafficking cases, only 37% fell into the "Agree" category, with the following breakdown: "strongly agree," (2%) "agree" (16%) and "slightly agree" (19%). The "Disagree" category totaled 63% of responses and included "slightly disagree," (26%) "disagree," (21%) or "strongly disagree,"(16%). Similarly, with regard to being adequately trained to handle labor trafficking cases, only 33% percent made up the "Agree" category, with the following breakdown: "strongly agree," (1%) "agree" (11%) and "slightly agree" (21%). The other 67% fell into the "Disagree" category made up of "slightly
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disagree," (24%) "disagree," (27%) or "strongly disagree,"(16%). Finally, when asked about their training to recognize indicators of human trafficking, the respondents were split almost evenly with 47% in the "Agree" category (3% "strongly agree," 18% "agree" and 26% "slightly agree") and the other 53% were in the "Disagree" category (22% of which "slightly disagree," 19% "disagree," and 12% "strongly disagree,").
My department/agency/office is adequately trained to handle cases involving sex trafficking: agree or disagree

"Agree" Category,
37%
"Disagree" Category, 63%

"Agree" Category
Includes "Strongly Agree," "Agree," and "Slightly Agree," Responses
"Disagree" Category
Includes "Strongly Disagree," "Disagree," and "Slightly Disagree," Responses

My department/agency/office is adequately trained to handle cases involving labor trafficking: agree or disagree

"Agree" Category,
33%
"Disagree" Category, 67%

"Agree" Category
Includes "Strongly Agree," "Agree," and "Slightly Agree," Responses
"Disagree" Category
Includes "Strongly Disagree," "Disagree," and "Slightly Disagree," Responses

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My department/agency/office is adequately trained to recognize indicators of human trafficking: agree or disagree

"Disagree" Category, 53%

"Agree" Category,
47%

"Agree" Category
Includes "Strongly Agree," "Agree," and "Slightly Agree," Responses
"Disagree" Category
Includes "Strongly Disagree," "Disagree," and "Slightly Disagree," Responses

Significance: From these responses, researchers recognized that a slight majority of Georgia law enforcement agencies did not feel adequately trained to recognize or handle human trafficking cases. The survey also asked whether members of the respondents' agency had received any human trafficking training within the last two years. A handful of respondents listed some training initiatives, most of which were basic in nature or were taken by one or two specific command staff members. There was no consistent answer amongst those who had training, and a substantial number of agencies had no response to this question. Additional training is needed to better equip local law enforcement on the basics of human trafficking, specifically the indicators to better identify victims and access services or state and federal law enforcement that could assist with trafficking investigations. It is also important to note that approximately 90% of agencies participating in the survey indicated that they would like to be contacted about training opportunities related to human trafficking issues. It is clear that law enforcement is willing to train further on the subject, if the proper training initiatives could be developed and made available throughout the state.

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Scenario-Based Questions The final component of this survey was the use of scenarios. Scenarios were given to respondents to gain an understanding of the decision-making that law enforcement officers go through on situations that should indicate human trafficking. Due to the anticipated low numbers of trafficking cases, scenarios were used to examine whether officers were able to recognize the situation as trafficking. Scenarios explored issues including gender, confinement, electronic pornography, engagement in other criminal activity by the victim, and age.
For example, the age of the victim can be a difficult and complicated factor for law enforcement, so one scenario placed the victim as either 15 or 18 years old. Law enforcement randomly received one of the two options and then they were asked questions about their response to the situation. They were given a list of what steps they would take and asked to check all the ones they would engage in. This included arresting the pimp for various relevant crimes, arresting the john for various crimes, arresting the victim or referring the victim to certain services. They also had an open ended question in which they had to label the victim as a trafficking victim or not and detail why.
Unfortunately, a significant number of survey participants chose not to complete the block of scenario questions and the response rate (N=118) was too low to allow for a proper empirical analysis. However, the available responses did provide researchers with a glimpse into the law enforcement perspective and featured feedback that showed some law enforcement was able to recognize sex trafficking regardless of complicating factors, while a portion may need training on the crime, how trafficking is different than prostitution and related victim-specific issues. In addition to responding to how they would handle the situation (i.e. whether to arrest), respondents were also asked questions about what services, if any, they would refer victims. The most common answer was to refer victims to the Georgia Department of Family and Children Services (DFCS). Additionally, some respondents listed a handful of advocacy non-profits, or used the term "church groups," when asked this question. Future research will be able to better examine the extent to which officers' decision-making is influenced by a variety of factors, and their familiarity with victim services. This bank of scenario questions will be expounded upon in future research projects throughout 2014. In the meantime, some of the available responses from law enforcement are provided below, and were used as discussion topics in the September 2013 facilitated roundtable discussion.
"Yes. Based on the information provided, this is a prime example of `Sex Trafficking'."
"I don't believe so. Although Rachel is a minor and Mack D was profiting from Rachel, she also sent the video to five of her closest friends; therefore, she exhibits some pride in the videos she was in. This case is more difficult and a more in depth study of the case would need to be investigated."
"No. It appears that she is a victim of prostitution"
"Yes. Since Jamie is only 15 he cannot consent to any sexual situations that he was placed in."
"No. Jamie had the ability to refuse and go elsewhere. He had left because he knew what was right and wrong yet he let himself be drawn in."
"Yes to a degree. Although he is 15 he's old enough to know what he is doing is wrong."
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"No, although underage she willingly lived with Mike P."
"No. Sam could also have walked away yet he chose to stay with no more than a verbal threat."
"Sam is of age to know right from wrong and should have reached out for help from the authorities.
"No. She is free to come and go as she pleased."
"No as he is the age of consent or at least that's what I have been told."
Victims' Service Providers Parallel
As part of the larger, multi-agency statewide assessment, the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (CJCC) conducted a survey-based study of Georgia victims' service providers. The law enforcement and victims' service provider surveys were complementary but independent of one another. The two were intended to provide researchers with information about the extent to which the two most likely groups to identify or encounter victims, police and victim services, have documented human trafficking activity. In response to an email data request, CJCC provided the following information. 15
CJCC used similar methodology to assess whether the responding agencies had served victims of human trafficking in the calendar year 2012 (same as the law enforcement survey) and used the O.C.G.A definition of human trafficking as a reference for defining victims (also the same as the law enforcement survey). Below are data highlights from this survey:
One hundred seventy-five government and non-profit victims' service provider agencies completed the CJCC survey, of which 40 reported having served at least one victim of human trafficking. The majority (89%) of those agencies with at least one victim were located in non-rural areas of Georgia. In other words, 89% of victims' services are located in metropolitan or suburban areas.
Respondents reported serving a total of 518 victims, of which 466 were victims of sex trafficking and 52 were victims of labor trafficking. o 241 of the victims served were minor, sex trafficking victims; o 20 foreign national minor victims of sex trafficking were served; o 3 foreign national minor victims of labor trafficking were served; and, o 1 domestic minor victim of labor trafficking was served.
The overwhelming majority of victims served were reported by agencies in the following counties: Fulton, DeKalb, Cobb and Clarke Counties. Only 34 victims accessed services in counties other than those four, and those 34 were spread across fourteen (14) other counties.
Sixty-six percent of all victims that providers served were trafficked domestically. In total, providers served 177 foreign national trafficking victims, of which 170 were undocumented.
15 Personal Communication. Stefanie Lopez-Howard, Statistical Analysis Center Director, Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, 3/11/14.
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Approximately 66% of victims were domestically trafficked. This is interesting to compare to the law enforcement survey in which the majority of police believe that non-U.S. citizens are the most often/most likely victims of trafficking (74%). Being able to compare the victims' services and law enforcement surveys reveals this important misconception.
Understanding the Disparity between Police & Victim Services
A primary goal of this research was to explicate the disparity that is assumed to exist between the number of victims documented by the law enforcement and victims' services communities. Public administration cannot operate in response to assumptions and research had yet to substantiate any actual numbers regarding the number of victims documented in Georgia. Therefore, the first step of quantifying law enforcement and victims' services numbers was conducted to establish a baseline for what numbers were available. Once the individual surveys were completed and compared to one another, researchers could acknowledge that a disparity did in fact exist. Subsequently, the next step was to understand what leads to such a significant disparity.
The primary reason for statistical disparities is the fact that the issue at hand is an illicit crime; one where perpetrators are spending time, energy and money to avoid detection or attention of law enforcement. Victims are often coerced, scared or even "brainwashed" to avoid law enforcement. Even victims that are rescued by law enforcement refuse to admit they have been victimized (see Challenges to Georgia Law Enforcement section, page 9). People who approach service providers would naturally be hesitant to deal with law enforcement and may be in a mental state that is not amenable to working with investigators.
In addition to the fact that victims often intentionally avoid police, law enforcement may not always be prepared to recognize human trafficking situations, misinterpreting the circumstances as prostitution. Common misconceptions further complicate the issue and make identification more difficult. This study attempted to measure this issue by including a set of prostitutionrelated questions and scenario-based narratives. These questions were intended to explore how effectively law enforcement differentiates trafficking from prostitution. Findings from this research indicate that some circumstances may complicate an officers' ability to properly identify trafficking activity apart from prostitution. Training on trafficking is necessary not simply to educate officers on the facts, but to also provide instruction on how to handle such situations in context of an officers' day to day work.
As previously highlighted throughout this report, training initiatives are needed to provide officers (on all levels) with an understanding of human trafficking and how to differentiate such activity from prostitution. Questions in this study highlighted the reality that law enforcement may have serious misconceptions about trafficking that need to be overcome in order to effect change. Such misconceptions may have influenced how police agencies have previously documented trafficking activity and can partially explain why law enforcement numbers are so low when compared to victims' service statistics.
With regard to the disparity between law enforcement and victims' service providers, it should be noted that just as law enforcement cases may include more than one victim, one or more
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victims' service providers may have served and documented the same victim. In other words, most victims' service organizations do not exchange victims' personal information, and have no way to deconflict their records with law enforcement or other agency reports. Therefore, the potential exists for a victim to have accessed services with more than one service provider. Law enforcement agencies with specialized human trafficking investigators have protocols for deconfliction using state and federal task forces. Such protocols are not absolute, so there is also a chance that a victim could have been documented by more than one law enforcement agency (although unlikely based upon the limited number of local agencies with any documentation). Lastly, while a rare occurrence, the likelihood exists for a portion of those conducting prostitution activities to gain access to victim services by self-reporting as a victim. While it is likely a small percentage, this possibility of false reporting to obtain healthcare and other services should be noted.
A primary focus of this study was to develop a sound understanding of why the law enforcement and victims' services numbers are so different. Understanding this disparity is important, not just for research sake, but because that gap represents an underserved population of victims. As outlined in this report, traffickers often control and exploit more than one victim. Therefore, a single victim that comes to the attention of law enforcement could potentially lead to other victims that may never have been documented and the ability to apprehend and prosecute the trafficker. Understanding the reasons behind such disparities also shed light on how law enforcement agencies can begin to recognize more victims and better understand the crime itself.
In conclusion, there are legitimate reasons which explain the disparity that exists between the reported number of victims according to law enforcement and victims services. While addressing the points previously mentioned may not create equivalent totals, it could lessen the disparity to the point that law enforcement training initiatives, education and reporting mechanisms could increase the number of victims recognized by law enforcement and bridge the data gap.
Current Climate of Human Trafficking in Georgia
The Polaris Project recognizes Georgia as a "Tier 1 State" based upon their national categorical review of "laws that are critical to a basic legal framework that combats human trafficking, punishes traffickers and supports survivors," but also highlights areas in which the state can further strengthen laws (Polaris Project, 2013). Namely, Georgia currently does not have safe harbor laws for protecting minors, or legislation that would allow for the removal of convictions for sex trafficking victims or victims to have access to civil damages; all of which are highlighted by the Polaris Project as laws needed to maximize a state's ability to effectively combat human trafficking.
Policy Implications and Recommendations
This study provides a benchmark of current practices of Georgia law enforcement agencies to identify human trafficking. In addition, it has provided information about common perceptions about the scope of problem of human trafficking. As a result, this report has identified important
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steps that can be taken to ensure more effective awareness regarding human trafficking, data collection, and resources for victims.
Recommendations contained in the report focus on three specific areas:
Training and awareness for law enforcement agencies Data Reporting Victims' Services
Training and Awareness
1. Develop model protocols for human trafficking to include indicators through a human trafficking training curriculum. This human trafficking awareness training should define specific curricula by statute through Georgia P.O.S.T. certification for new hires. Additionally, continuing education on human trafficking should be mandated through inservice or courses at the Georgia Public Safety Training Center (GPSTC) to reach veteran officers. Emphasis should be placed at the senior leadership level such as police chiefs, sheriffs, and command staff. Lastly, other members of the criminal justice system who specialize in human trafficking should receive training on advanced topics in conducting human trafficking investigations.
2. All trainings should include a focus on common misconceptions of human trafficking as outlined in this report. In addition, training should be developed along a continuum of specialty from a basic course properly defining human trafficking, and clarifying the difference between trafficking and smuggling to a more detailed how-to-investigate human trafficking course for investigators.
3. Training should also incorporate community advocacy groups and victims service organizations to address the disparity of what is not reported to law enforcement.
4. It is also recommended that schools, teachers, social service providers and first responders receive a form of human trafficking training. Training should raise awareness and address common misconceptions.
Reporting
1. The findings presented in this report indicate the need for better data collection and information sharing. One of the largest gaps in human trafficking research is in the area of data collection, specifically with regard to the number of reported victims trafficked. Despite the disparities within the data analyzed here, other sources of data are emerging, yet there is no single agency or organization that acts as a clearinghouse for the collection, management, and sharing of human trafficking statistics. Furthermore, much of this emerging data focuses on the international human trafficking trade. To effectively identify victims and investigate human trafficking victims or subjects, a consolidated method to identify and document victims is crucial. As such, this study has identified steps necessary to implement strategies to systematically deal with the discrepancies and gaps in human trafficking data.
2. While a new database unique to measuring human trafficking would seem ideal to researchers, this study recognizes that state and local law enforcement are not likely to
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adopt such a new system due to the fact that it may not integrate properly with their existing agency database or resources. Furthermore, an entirely new system has the potential to disrupt the investigative work-flow by requiring data entry into multiple systems. Instead, this study encourages law enforcement to leverage existing resources, namely the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) program. Essentially, agencies could contribute to UCR reporting by adding commercial sex acts and involuntary servitude arrest and offense data to their existing incident and arrest forms. Such participation would be an efficient way to increase the quality of reporting to allow for quantifiable analysis, with little to no interruption of existing agency protocols and databases. In 2013, the FBI began collecting data on human trafficking. The UCR program has been the premier data system for the collection, analysis and archival of data related to certain types of crime. UCR statistics are commonly featured in research literature and are often referenced by criminal justice decision-makers. However, not all local agencies participate in or report their trafficking numbers to the UCR program. This study encourages all law enforcement agencies to consider full participation in the UCR program. 3. Encourage interagency coordination with regard to data protection laws in order to disseminate such information between agencies and states without violating victim's rights.
Victims' Services
1. Develop and implement a statewide response protocol for the treatment of human trafficking victims including the coordination of law enforcement with victims' service providers.
2. Identify a statewide provider that will serve as the first response system for minor human trafficking victims. This study gathered overwhelming support from law enforcement and service providers alike for a receiving center which would serve as the first response center.
3. Provide prevention services for at-risk youth population. 4. The State of Georgia can protect minor victims of human trafficking by adopting
"safe harbor" laws. To implement such laws, it is necessary to legislatively declare trafficked and commercially sexually exploited children as victims of abuse and neglect (Polaris), grant age based immunization from prosecution for prostitutionrelated offenses and or conditional diversion from juvenile facilities. (Polaris 2013)
Further Research
This study found little to no documentation of labor trafficking activity amongst Georgia law enforcement. Future research tailored to the specific issue of labor trafficking will be necessary to better understand where such problems are occurring and how to address the reasons such crimes are even more difficult to identify and prosecute. Furthermore, labor trafficking is more likely to be discovered by regulatory agencies and as such, federal law enforcement is in a better position than local law enforcement to work such crimes. Finally, this study did not conduct a survey of District Attorneys' offices. This study
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indicates the need for further research to include DA offices and the courts in order to fully grasp the number of victims encountered by such agencies in addition to the legal process for those convicted of human trafficking offenses.
Conclusion
This study was conducted to explore the extent to which human trafficking occurs in Georgia, specifically the degree to which law enforcement is able to recognize and combat such activity. This initial report summarizes the first phase of the study which included a survey of local, state and federal law enforcement agencies and facilitated stakeholder discussion. Accurately quantifying the number of victims proves difficult, as no single measure or standard exists for documenting known victims, let alone victims that do not access services or encounter law enforcement. This study finds a significant disparity between the number of victims documented by law enforcement and victims service organizations. This disparity is attributed to a number of factors, including but not limited to, organizational differences, victim-specific issues, and an inability to effectively identify and treat victims. While there is no way to accurately quantify the true total number of victims, this study serves as a first step towards understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the fight against human trafficking in Georgia and suggests future legislative and research-based initiatives that would better recognize and serve victims and prosecute offenders. Enacting these policy and legislative recommendations will increase the training and awareness of law enforcement, first responders, and the community as well as provide more resources to victims' service providers and advocates.
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Appendix
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Appendix A References
Banks, D., & Kyckelhahn, T. (2011). Characteristics of suspected human trafficking incidents, 2008-2010. U.S. Department of Justice: Office of Justice Programs.
Estes, R., & Weiner, N. (2001). The commercial sexual exploitation of children in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania.
Mariano, W. (2012). Despite millions spent, human trafficking's scope is unknown. The Atlanta Journal Constitution. Retrieved 2 December 2013 from: http://www.ajc.com/news/news/despite-millions-spenthuman-traffickings-scope-is/nTjRn/
McGaha, J. E., & Evans, A. (2009). Where Are the Victims-The Credibility Gap in Human Trafficking Research. Intercultural Hum. Rts. L. Rev., 4, 239.
Reaves, B. A. (2007). Census of state and local law enforcement agencies, 2004. Bureau of Justice Statistics Bulletin. U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs. NCJ 212749, June 2007.
Rocha, P. (2012). Our backyard slave trade: the result of Ohio's failure to enact comprehensive state-level human sex trafficking legislation. JL & Health, 25, 381.
Polaris Project (2013). 2013 State Ratings on Human Trafficking Laws. Retrieved 11 January 2014 from: http://www.polarisproject.org/what-we-do/policy-advocacy/national-policy/state-ratings-onhuman-trafficking-laws
Quin, M., Merritt, P., Garner, M., & Robinson, J. (2011). Tennessee human sex trafficking and its impact on children and youth, 2011. Tennessee Bureau of Investigation & Vanderbilt Center for Community Studies, A Mixed Methods Research Study Presented to the Tennessee General Assembly.
United Nations (2000, November 15). The U. N. convention against transnational organized crime: Protocol to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in persons, especially women and children and the protocol against smuggling of migrants by land, sea, and air.
U.S. Department of State. (2005). The facts about human trafficking for forced labor. Retrieved November 14, 2006, from http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/fs/2005/50861.htm
U.S. Department of State. (2006). Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000: Trafficking in persons report. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Wisconsin Department of Justice. (2013). A baseline assessment of human trafficking in the state of Wisconsin.
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Appendix B
Agency Response Rate by County

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One (1) LE Agency Two (2) LE Agencies
Three (3) or more LE Agencies

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Appendix C Survey Instrument and Data Collection The survey was administered through SurveyMonkey, a web-based service providing measurement instruments and survey tools. The web survey was available from April 15, 2013 through August 31, 2013. All data was then downloaded and analyzed using SPSS software. All recipients received the same series of questions with the exception of a bank of scenario questions. 16 Quantitative analysis is presented throughout this report in both narrative and graphical format.
With regard to the law enforcement survey, a total of 783 agencies (619 police departments, 159 sheriff's offices, three state law enforcement agencies, and two federal agencies), initially received cover letters and electronic access to the survey. 18 However, in an effort to increase the response rate for those agencies deemed "most likely" to have documented or encountered human trafficking activity, 538 of those 783 agencies were offered multiple opportunities to take the survey. GBI personnel made direct follow-up appeals to these 538 police departments and sheriff's offices in an effort to increase the response rate of the target sample. Two hundred and six agencies ultimately completed the survey for a response rate of 38% of the target sample (the 538 agencies) or 26% of the initial release recipients (783).
The 538 select agencies that made up the target sample received direct or personal appeals for participation were those designated by GBI personnel as primary investigative agencies within a jurisdiction. In most cases, these agencies were the county sheriff's office and county or municipal police departments. This was due to the fact that the survey was initially made available to all agencies with at least one sworn officer, regardless of the likelihood that the agency would be involved in crimes against persons. As such, agencies such as campus police, marshal's offices and fire investigators were made aware of the survey, but only 538 police departments and sheriff's offices were repeatedly pursued by the GBI for their participation. Initial closure dates were extended three times due to a poor response rate and each time, recipients were informed of the extensions. Therefore, the law enforcement survey is not an exhaustive review of all agencies, but rather a targeted effort at quantifying those agencies most likely to encounter human trafficking activity and willing to participate in the study.
Cover Letter Issued with Survey Dissemination The following page features the cover letter that was issued with the original (and all subsequent) disseminations of the survey.
16 The Scenario Section featured three scenarios, each with two versions (versions having differences based on gender, age, and other variables). Questions for this section were randomly selected to ensure respondents only received one version of each scenario. 18 The 619 police departments are the 619 agencies belonging to the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police.
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Human Trafficking Assessment
Georgia Bureau of Investigation-GISAC & Georgia State University
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI), in partnership with Georgia State University (GSU), the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (CJCC), and the Governor's Office for Children and Families is conducting a comprehensive, statewide assessment of the extent and impact of human trafficking in the State of Georgia. Simply put, research has yet to determine how widespread the problem of human trafficking is in Georgia. Existing knowledge of the issue is primarily anecdotal and based on individual cases or media accounts. It is also unclear if such crimes are being reported to police agencies in the first place. The ultimate goal of this study is to better understand human trafficking issues and to equip Georgia police officers with the knowledge and means to more effectively detect such crimes and assist victims. Study findings will be published (and made available to participants) at the conclusion of the assessment.
The GBI developed this survey (one component of the larger, cooperative study) with the intent that every state and local law enforcement agency will participate and therefore present a united front in the fight against human trafficking. To date, no study has been able to effectively quantify Georgia law enforcement's response to this problem. It may be that you, as a respondent on behalf of your agency, have no documented cases of human trafficking many agencies will not. It is currently unknown how many Georgia agencies have investigated or even documented such cases. This survey is an important first step towards establishing a clear picture of human trafficking activity in Georgia and consolidating law enforcement's efforts to combat such crimes.
We encourage your agency to be a part of this initiative. Agencies that choose to participate in this critical study will receive the final report of the project's findings, in addition to receiving notice of future training opportunities. All Georgia Law Enforcement Agencies willing to participate are asked to complete this survey by August 31th, 2013.
Participating agencies can read the survey instructions and questions using the link that was emailed out with this letter. Respondents will be answering on behalf of their agency/department rather than based upon their personal experience. Whoever fills out the survey will need access to their agency's case files, arrest reports, and crime statistics. The most appropriate person to complete this survey may be one that has knowledge about or access to cases your agency has worked that involve exploitation of children, sex crimes, or forced labor in your jurisdiction. Should your agency have a vice unit or special victims unit, you may want to consult with them or designate the most appropriate person to complete this survey. We recommend that the respondent read through the questions, research their responses, and then return to complete the survey with case statistics in hand.
Please contact Meredith Bailey at 404-327-6876 or via email meredith.bailey@gisac.gbi.ga.gov should you have ANY questions about the survey, the background information on human trafficking, the overall research project, or if you wish to provide some additional feedback about the survey itself. Thank you very much for your cooperation in this effort.
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Appendix D Polaris Project 2013 State Ratings on Human Trafficking Laws
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