|
Law Enforcement, Non-Profits Target Human Trafficking in Touristy Orlando  June 3, 2013 | WMFE - Central Florida law enforcement agencies are joining with non-profit groups to target human trafficking. They say the region's tourism and convention industries attract forced prostitution, and the victims tend to be children. [Photo: Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings speaks at a news conference announcing the new task force.] The Greater Orlando Human Trafficking Task Force includes the Florida Department of Children and Families and Orlando Police Department. It also includes more than a dozen other law enforcement and non-profit groups like Harbor House of Central Florida. Jerry Demings is Orange County sheriff. "Sadly I will tell you that some of the victims we see here in Orange County, they're just children. They're teenagers, 12, 13 years old sometimes." The Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation will increase its number of agents on human trafficking from four to seven. The task force also plans to educate hotel staff on signs of prostitution. In the past year and a half there have been more than 125 confirmed victims of human trafficking in Orange, Osceola and Seminole Counties. |
|
|