Virginia law enforcement officials teamed up this week for a training seminar on human trafficking, the first time the state has tried such an initiative in its efforts to combat the issue.
The seminar brought together detectives, prosecutors and victim-witness coordinators from across the state to learn how to define trafficking, identify victims and target traffickers, according to state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who hosted the session with the Department of Criminal Justice Services.
The law enforcement officials also heard presentations from Justice Department officials and representatives from Polaris Project, an anti-human-trafficking advocacy group.
The seminar comes as sex trafficking has been increasingly recognized as a problem in the Washington region. Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell signed three bills in May aimed at curbing trafficking in the state, and the state launched a new website last month to try to spread information about sex-trafficking.
"The types of crimes that these traffickers are committing are terrifying and deplorable -- we certainly have our work cut out for us," Cuccinelli said in a statement. He said he thought the state could make improvements if officials worked together "as a comprehensive team."
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