Airport Police work to spread awareness for Human Trafficking Prevention Month
Airport and airline employees are often first to spot warning signs in human trafficking cases.
January is National Human Trafficking Prevention Month, and once again, Tampa International Airport Police are working to spread the word on what Airport employees and airline passengers should be looking for to help stop human trafficking through Florida's airports.
According to the U.S. Department of State, there are estimated to be more than 27.6 million people — adults and children — subjected to human trafficking around the world, including in the United States. Traffickers often take advantage of instability caused by natural disasters, conflict, or a pandemic to exploit others.
“Human trafficking isn’t always like what you see on TV or in the movies,” said Cpl. Dan Jones of the Tampa International Airport Police Department. “It is embedded in a lot of industries, unfortunately.”
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report that 80% of victims were trafficked internationally through official border points such as airports, and that 71% of labor trafficking survivors in the U.S. traveled by airplane during their exploitation.
“We can’t be everywhere all the time, so we need folks to report things that seem suspicious,” said Cpl. Jones.
Airport Police Cpl. Mike Cooper said officers on his squad work hard to develop relationships with employees and vendors across the Airport so they feel comfortable coming forward if they see something suspicious.
“That gives us several thousand pairs of eyes to try to spot this behavior,” said Cpl. Cooper. “If you see something, say something.”
Airport guests and passengers can be just as effective in stopping human trafficking if they know what to look for and speak up.
“We have had instances where fellow passengers have noticed something irregular and they’ve made that call to law enforcement,” said Cpl. Cooper.
Warning signs can be something like one person holding all of the documents and ID’s, or someone who is asking about where they are located.
Tampa International Airport has installed special signage in restrooms throughout the terminals with a phone number for where suspicious activity can be reported. Peter O. Knight, Tampa Executive and Plant City airports, which are run by the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority along with TPA, also have signs posted.
Additionally, the Airport has made training available to all airport employees, and Airport police conduct special trainings for groups of passenger-facing employees who have a greatest likelihood of spotting suspicious activity.
“Call us right away,” said Cpl. Jones of anyone who has a feeling something isn’t right. “Even if it turns out to be nothing, we’d rather investigate something that is nothing than miss something that could be a serious issue.”
For more resources and information on human trafficking, visit the U.S. Department of State Human Trafficking Page here.