New Partnership To Fight Human Trafficking
Established in 2017, the West Alabama Human Trafficking Task Force was the first fulltime joint jurisdiction operational team of its kind in the state of Alabama and one of the few in the entire southeast.
Now renamed the West Alabama INTERCEPT (Inter-agency Child Exploitation and Persons Trafficking) Task Force, local officials and law enforcement leaders today announced a partnership that will expand the task force's investigative abilities and make an already successful operation even more effective.
Tuscaloosa County Commission Chair and Probate Judge Rob Robertson joined local law enforcement officials at the task forces new headquarters in the Synergic Center in Northport.to reveal the new partnership in the battle to combat child exploitation and human trafficking through support from Operation Light Shine.
Operation Light Shine a nonprofit founded in Nashville was founded to, "shine a light of hope in the fight against child exploitation and trafficking." according to Executive Director Bryan Weight, The Mission of his organization is to fund and provide resources to assist those, "on the front lines" with the tools, technology, and support needed to protect children and pursue those who harm them.
Among the support being provided is salary reimbursements for detectives and technology resources for investigations. Weight said the organization pays for licenses, hardware and software to give investigators the resources they need.
Local officials say the support will take the task force a large step forward in speeding up investigations and leading to quicker arrests.
The task force is a joint effort of Tuscaloosa, Northport and University of Alabama PDs, the Tuscaloosa County Sheriff's Office with assistance of other area law enforcement agencies.
Research shows the highly travelled I20/59 corridors through West Alabama makes hotels and motels in this area a prime target for human trafficking. Hospitality personnel have been trained to notice the signs of potential trafficking.
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