O'Malley signs 2 bills to fight human trafficking

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Signs required in problem hotels; crime bumped from misdemeanor to felony
by Andre L. Taylor | Staff Writer

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Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., left, Gov. Martin O�Malley and House Speaker Michael E. Busch signed dozens of pieces of legislation Thursday, including bills to fight human trafficking.

Hotels where at least two human trafficking arrests were made, which resulted in criminal convictions, must now place signs with the phone number to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center Hotline in all rooms.

The hotel sign bill, sponsored by Del. Tom Hucker (D-Dist. 20) of Silver Spring and signed by Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) last week, was drafted with the goal of cutting down on human trafficking throughout the state, Hucker said. In 2009, 68 people were arrested in Montgomery County on prostitution-related charges.

A second bill that increases the penalty for human trafficking from a misdemeanor to a felony also was signed last week, said Julie Janovsky, chairwoman of the legislative committee for the Maryland Human Trafficking Task Force. Currently, only the head of a trafficking ring could be charged with a crime, but under the bill, anyone involved can be charged, she said.

"Police can now charge anyone knowingly involved in human trafficking of an adult with a felony, which hopefully will cut down on human trafficking here," said Janovsky, the senior policy specialist for the Polaris Project, a nonprofit organization in Washington, D.C., that works to fight human trafficking.

Human traffickers frequently operate their prostitution businesses in hotels and motels, Hucker said, and sometimes the managers and owners of the establishments know what is going on.

Mary Jo McCulloch, president and CEO of the Annapolis-based Maryland Hotel and Lodging Association, said many hoteliers in the state are not aware prostitution rings are run out of their establishments. Hoteliers are the ones who call the police to report human trafficking and prostitution, she said.

Lighted signs along state highways urging people to report anyone trafficking people for prostitution would be better than signs in hotel rooms, McCulloch said. Before the bill passed in April, McCulloch said, she warned legislators that many people would not see the signs because they will not be posted in every hotel.

"I'm not sure what the signs in the hotel rooms will accomplish," she said. "It's nothing for someone trafficking humans to just pull the sign down."

Criminals always find a way to get around the law, Hucker said. At least the signs will be up and may serve as a tool for victims of human trafficking to come forward.

The signs will tell people that, if they are being detained against their will and being used for prostitution or have had their immigration papers taken, they could be a victim of human trafficking, Hucker said. The exact wording of the signs has not been decided, he said.

"I hope people look for these signs," he said. "They won't be in every hotel room, but they will be in hotels and motels that have had problems with human trafficking in the past."

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O'Malley signs 2 bills to fight human trafficking

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