Child Sex Trafficking (CST) is a crime that is hidden yet in plain sight. First responders are often the first system members to make contact with a CST victim. A CST victim has been heavily groomed for system contact, is fearful of their trafficker, and often not forthcoming about their exploitive situation. Deconstruct the crime of CST and identify common scenarios in which you may come in contact with a CST victim. Discover victim-centered contact practices you can implement which are specific to CST victims. Recognize how to secure vital evidence which may only be available during your initial contact with the victim. Practice group exercises and develop contact and response plans to common scenarios you may encounter.
Child sex trafficking (CST) is like no other crime. Victimization may happen hundreds of times and can be difficult to identify due to the victims being missing children coupled with the trafficker’s hold on victims. Dissect the crime of CST, its complex nature, and discover how to investigate this crime fully. Develop trauma-informed approaches to ensure your victim interview does not retraumatize and you gain critical information to identify corroborative evidence. Examine the trafficker’s profile and motivation, how they impact your suspect interview, and proven suspect interview strategies. Recognize common evidence available, legal hurdles, and common defenses of traffickers.
In the initial response to endangered missing or child abduction incidents, accurate and timely situational assessments and immediate resource deployment are critical. During this training, first responders will gain knowledge of the investigative activities that occur during an endangered missing or child abduction investigation, and how their actions influence the short- and long-term response of law enforcement. Learn the impact the missing and or abducted child incident has on the family and how this can impact your response. Examine the critical and necessary first steps for first responders, initial supervisory, and investigative response. Gain best practices strategies for search and canvass implementation.
Take steps toward implementing a successful CART by bringing together a team of experts whose knowledge, skills, and abilities will be beneficial in a child abduction case. Join us to learn how to develop a multidisciplinary CART for responding to endangered, missing, or abducted children. Hear about the impact a child abduction has on the family and learn the fundamentals of developing an effective responsive CART team. Examine incident command considerations, search and canvassing operations, CART activation, and resources to improve the response, investigation, search, and canvass activities associated with missing children investigations.
Child abduction cases all too often become unsolved child abductions. One of the most frightening crimes a community and law enforcement will encounter, circumstances can vary widely from a witnessed child abduction to a belief an abduction occurred, but it was not witnessed. A reported abduction which is in fact a parental murder or negligence related death may also have occurred, rather than an abduction. These cases are complex to investigate when they occur and even more so when months or years have passed, and the cases have been essentially closed. Develop a process for identifying viable cases to reopen. Recognize likely hurdles you will encounter and develop the skill to navigate valuable resources to access when reopening a case. Utilize an investigative checklist to manage the renewed investigation of a child abduction and become informed about evidentiary advances which may impact your investigation.
Enhance your agency’s AMBER Alert activations by utilizing new strategies. Examine training requirements and procedures for activating an AMBER Alert and gain an in-depth review of current best practices, trends and analytics, and industry leaders. Explore current abduction trends, laws related to mandatory notifications, yearly statistics, and resources available during an activation.
Test the organization’s response in conducting an initial investigation into searching for a missing or abducted child using the Incident Command System. Employ strategies and responses in mitigating and resolving the emergency. Participate in a multidisciplinary tabletop exercise to build cohesiveness within the investigative team when responding to an emergency.
Seconds count when a child is missing. Gain the critical skills needed to construct and manage effective search and canvass operations to recover the child. Recognize crucial cell phone and technology-related evidence which can help locate the child and track the abductor. Explore relevant legal issues associated with criminal cases against those who abduct and harm children. Participate in hands-on exercises designed to test your knowledge and application of the material and prepare you for your next missing child case.
Child Protective Services (CPS) case workers encounter child sex trafficking victims during and following missing events in which extensive exploitation is occurring or has occurred. Examine when CPS has jurisdiction and a duty to investigate trafficking cases, along with why and how children go missing from care. Identify vulnerabilities and recognize factors which indicate sex trafficking. Often these recovered missing or abducted children do not disclose their exploitation when recovered or encountered by CPS. Analyze the bond the victim has with the trafficker and discover why disclosing is difficult for children. Identify approaches to protect children when you suspect trafficking but have no disclosure from the victim. Lastly, develop opportunities to collaborate with law enforcement and other professionals to identify and support CST victims.
The AMBER Alert Best Practices – Law Enforcement Field Guide is a companion to the AMBER Alert Best Practices Guide and is aimed at law enforcement agencies and 1st Responders. It is designed to provide administrators with a document on what to expect in the event of an endangered missing or abducted child investigation, as well as provide their personnel with a reference manual to help jump start an effective response and investigation. The webinar will focus on raising awareness of areas that are consistently shown to be relevant and have an operational impact in these types of cases as well as how the guide can assist.
