Reclaiming the Lost
Dispatch: “217D” “217D respond to the Super 8 hotel at 3801 Capital Blvd reference a disturbance. Male and female are arguing outside of room 308.”
217D: “ Copy, enroute”
On arrival, patrol unit 217D locates a male and a female still arguing outside of room 308. The female is 17 years old and is upset that the male will not give her money to go to the store for a drink. The male identifies himself as 27 years old and as her boyfriend. Both people are not happy to have a police officer show up to the room.
A second officer arrives on scene, allowing each individual to be separated and talked to. The girl allows you to step into the room. A box of condoms is observed sitting inside an open drawer of the nightstand. The few clothes observed in the open closet consist of lace outfits and little else. The girl continues to feverishly stand up for the person outside. So far, this is feeling like a lover’s quarrel gone awry.
A thorough interview of the two subjects yields the cellphone numbers for each. Running the numbers against Backpage reveals prostitution ads with the girl’s picture on it. It is not illegal to post such, so the ad alone doesn’t provide evidence to make charges against either individual. What do you care anyway? She is just another loud-mouth prostitute from the world’s oldest profession, right?
The reality is that a greater crime is hidden beneath what some see as a victimless crime. Here is the real story that gets repeated daily in small towns and in big cities:
Sam is entering her junior year of high school. She loves the freedom her parents have gradually given her as she has gotten older. They even said OK to her staying the weekend with a friend so they could go to a concert.
The weekend came quickly. The friend not only got tickets for the concert but received an invitation to an after- party. That is where Sam met Melvin. Melvin is a little older but treated her so nice that night. He bought all the drinks and even wanted her phone number!
The following weeks consisted of her being picked up every day by Melvin after school. He treated her so nice, buying her a new phone, new clothes, and, wow! how he took care of her every need. Sam was even skipping school to spend time with Melvin. Then Sam snuck out one Friday night to spend the whole weekend with him for a trip to a nearby city!
The couple checked into a hotel near the airport. A few minutes later a knock came at the door. Melvin opened the door and another man entered. When the door closed, Melvin told her this man was going to have sex with her. She tried to refuse but Melvin said she had to stay with him. She owed it to him for all the nice things.
That man was the first of many men that came through that hotel door that weekend. Melvin took her phone, took all of her nice clothes, and took the money the men left. She couldn’t leave since she had no way home. Melvin would just come after her if she did. He had even threatened to hurt her younger brother if she ever crossed him.
Sam finally tried to stand up to Melvin, where they argued outside the hotel room. Sam thought, Jeez, the cops actually showed up… Nevertheless, Melvin knows where I live. He said he would kill me and hurt my brother if I went to the cops. Maybe they will see through the facade?
Hidden from view is the ugly world of human trafficking. The depiction above is actually an easier case to investigate since the girl is 17 years old (a minor) and at a hotel without her family. But, many police officers miss the signals, lumping the foul-mouthed girl in with all the other hardened, street- savvy prostitutes that officers come in contact with. Slowing down and having situational awareness allows clues to surface that the incident encompasses more than prostitution:
· Female is under 18 years of age and at a hotel without her family
· Female is in the company of adult male who is not her family
· Very few personal belongings in hotel room
· The female doesn’t have a cellphone or if she does,
· The female’s phone continues to get calls from the same number (usually her trafficker checking in on her)
· Ad for the female located on Backpage
· Interview of female reveals prostitution and she is relinquishing all proceeds to another individual.
Girls that end up trafficked start off believing they are getting into a loving relationship with their trafficker. Before long, their world view is shattered when their “boyfriend” cuts them off from family and friends, and then through coercion and force, makes the girl start prostituting herself. The girls see no way out as the male is their only support system. The officer will encounter a female that is very protective of their trafficker. Unfortunately, it usually takes removing the female from the environment multiple times before they realize they can recover. The odds drop even more once the girl turns 18 and becomes an adults. Law enforcement cannot easily remove an adult from this environment without their consent, so arresting the suspect without the female getting out of the environment leaves her vulnerable to another trafficker.
Taking time to look below the surface could pull someone’s daughter out from the grips of a trafficker and into a support system to start recovery. Officers need to become more aware of what may be occurring under the veil of what they perceive as a simple domestic call between two people. This increased awareness of this complex situation may save someone’s life and have an effect on this international crime.
