The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced a new partnership between the DHS Blue Campaign and Cullman County, Alabama, with the goal of raising public awareness about human trafficking.
DHS’s Blue Campaign aims to combat human trafficking, the fastest growing business of organized crime, through enhanced public awareness, training, victim assistance, and law enforcement investigations. Estimates put the number of domestic and international human trafficking victims in the millions, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The partnership enables Cullman County to post co-branded Blue Campaign materials throughout the county as part of a public awareness campaign to educate local residents on how to recognize indicators of human trafficking and understand how to report suspected cases.
“We cannot combat human trafficking alone,” said Chair Maria Odom. “The Blue Campaign works closely with our partners across the Nation to help ensure that our communities know how to recognize and report the signs of human trafficking. We are honored to be working with Cullman County to bring an end to this heinous crime.”
Earlier this year, the Cullman County Human Trafficking Task Force, comprised of representatives from a local community organizations, Juvenile Probation and the District Attorney’s Office, held a free public training with the DHS Blue Campaign.
This new partnership will build on previous human trafficking training in the county and will include more targeted materials to attorneys, juveniles and members of the trucking industry in the county.
In the last year, the Blue Campaign has also established partnerships with the Virginia Office of the Attorney General, South Carolina Office of the Attorney General, District of Columbia Office of Human Rights and six law enforcement, first responder and public safety agencies in Los Angeles.
