My City January 2022

BY CHERYL DENNISON The Fight Against Human Trafficking January is National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. Every year since 2010, the President has dedicated the month to raising awareness of the different types of human trafficking – also known as modern slavery – and educating people about this crime and how to spot it. January 11 is Human Trafficking Awareness Day. Here is what is being done to raise awareness and to eliminate human trafficking that is happening right here in Genesee County.

In May of 2018,G.H.O.S.T. (GeneseeHuman OppressionStrikeTeam) was initiated by GeneseeCounty SheriŠChristopher Swanson (whenhewas undersheriŠ) with authority granted by then-SheriŠ Robert Pickell. Swansonhad been involvedwith aWest Coast international organization that supports enforcement of human tra‰cking laws and the rescue of sex tra‰cking victims through the use of special forces.Ayear prior, he took a trip toHaiti where heworkedwith an intel-gathering group. Somewomen from Europe had been promised employment at a Œve-star resort in the DominicanRepublic and instead, their passports were taken from them, theywere put on a bus and shipped toHaiti where theywere tra‰cked for sex 24 hours-a-day. During that mission, Swanson worked with a group of undercover operators with law enforcement and military experience, who posed as “customers.”“e tra‰ckers brought the victims to the customers, the victims were rescued and the tra‰ckers were then arrested by the national police. After that successful operation, Swanson thought to himself, “If this is happening here, and it is the fastest growing criminal enterprise, I have to believe it ’s also

happening in Genesee County.” This led to the formation of the G.H.O.S.T. task force within the Genesee County Sheriff ’s Office, whose purpose is to apprehend human traffickers and people who attempt to have a sexual relationship with a child. According to Swanson, the first rescue in Genesee County happened in May 2018 without additional funding or additional people. “We added this to our normal duties,” he explained. Potential victims were identified through contacts with Probate Court, DHHS, and by using a list of kids who were age 17 and had no known address or location. “These kids are the members of the population who are most vulnerable to trafficking,” Swanson states. There were 72 names on the list. “We found and identified 50 of the kids on that list.” Not all of those kids had been tra‰cked, the sheriŠ explained; but their Œnal stop was a house oŠ FentonRoad that led to the discovery of a 15-year-old girl who had been locked up, living in a bathtub and covered in bruises and cuts, who was being pimped out. ““at was the real deal.” Swanson said. ““at was the wakeup call for my team.” 

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