Updated: Wednesday, 16 Nov 2011, 6:32 PM CST
Published : Wednesday, 16 Nov 2011, 4:50 PM CST
Fighting Modern Day Slavery: MyFoxMEMPHIS.com
Memphis, Tn - "It's basically slavery in our modern day, and we take it seriously. We want to learn all we can so we can combat this issue in the city of Memphis."
Close to 200 law enforcement officers, from throughout the area, were at a human trafficking seminar in Millington this week.
Human trafficking can involve adults and sadly, children. The victim is moved from city to city or state to state and often, sold for sex. Law enforcement here, are learning how to identify and investigate the cases.
"It's key, the ultimate key frankly, could be that police officer or deputy pulls someone over for a basic traffic citation, knowing what to look for," said US Attorney Ed Stanton.
Stanton says there are more human trafficking cases in federal court here than in any other district in the country.
He won't give specific numbers, but a recent report by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, says there may have been more than 100 child trafficking cases in Shelby County in the last 2 years.
"We've seen sometimes as young as 11, 12, 13-years-old who got caught up in the trafficking system," he said. "We see victims from suburbia, victims from the inner city, rural West Tennessee."
But, according to the TBI report, 80% of law enforcement and social service providers surveyed don't feel trained to handle the cases.
At the Millington seminar, agents with the FBI's Civil Rights Task Force, one of the few in the country that focuses on human trafficking, are lending their expertise.
Jeremy Baker is with that task force, "If they encounter a victim, what are questions they can ask, signs to look for, and who to call."
Identifying and investigating human trafficking cases properly could mean the difference between saving a child and not. There were 2,500 runaways in Memphis last year. Experts believe 1 in 3 are recruited by traffickers.
"We had to realize sometimes we're the only, layer, barrier between helping that child and that child (got) lost into the system...We have to do everything in our power to step forward and make sure that child is safe," said Col. Mike Ryall with the Memphis Police Department.
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