Grant To Fund Human Trafficking Task Force In Tampa Bay

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — St. Petersburg Police Chief Anthony Holloway announced Wednesday that the U.S. Department of Justice has awarded a $741,556 grant to the St. Petersburg Police Department for three years to create a regional Tampa Bay Human Trafficking Task Force.

The task force will be a collaboration of local, state and federal law enforcement agencies working with organizations that provide services to victims of human trafficking.

“Human trafficking victims are real and too many of them are children whose innocence is forcibly taken from them with devastating and often lasting consequences," said Holloway. "Only through a direct and concerted effort will we be able to make a difference and eradicate human trafficking from our community."

The Tampa Bay Human Trafficking Task Force will focus on three areas.

1. Education: provide education and training to law enforcement and the public to build awareness.

2. Rescue: coordinate with support programs and resources to help victims.

3. Enforcement: implement technology that makes it easier to collect and share data across jurisdictions and provide law enforcement support with investigations and prosecutions.

“Human trafficking is a crime that will not be tolerated in our communities,” said U.S. Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez. “Criminals who commit these horrific acts on our citizens should know that we are serious about finding them, prosecuting them and putting them where they belong – behind bars.”

The geographic scope of the grant is within the Middle District of Florida and includes the following agencies:

St. Pete Police

Federal: U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations.

State: Florida Office of the Attorney General, Office of Statewide Prosecution, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, State Attorneys’ Offices (Florida Judicial Circuits 5th, 6th, 12th, and 13th)

Local: Hernando County Sheriff’s Office, Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, Pasco County Sheriff’s Office, Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, Polk County Sheriff’s Office, Bradenton Police, Clearwater Police, Haines City Police, Palmetto Police, Sarasota Police, St. Petersburg Police, Tampa Police, Wauchula Police and Zephyrhills Police.

The nonprofit Selah Freedom Foundation will provide victim services.

See related stories:

• Human Trafficking: The Downside Of Being A Super Bowl Host
• County To Form Human Trafficking Task Force Ahead Of Super Bowl

It's a subject that's been on the minds of Tampa Bay officials in both government and law enforcement since the announcement that Super Bowl LV will be played in Tampa in February 2021.

"Super Bowls are magnets for human traffickers," said Dottie Groover-Skipper of Tampa, anti-trafficking coordinator for the Florida Divisional Headquarters of The Salvation Army and a member of the Statewide Council on Human Trafficking led by the Florida Attorney General. "When large groups of people gather for major events like the Super Bowl, human trafficking increases. These big sporting events where a lot of men are gathered are prime targets for pimps and sex traffickers."

During the 2019 Super Bowl in Atlanta, the FBI arrested 169 people during an 11-day operation targeting human traffickers who flooded Atlanta with sex workers ahead of the Super Bowl. The FBI arrested 94 people in a similar operation in Minneapolis during the 2018 Super Bowl.

But the problem doesn't go away after the cheering crowds have left the stadium, said South Tampa resident Connie Rose.

A trafficking victim as a teen, Rose is now a tireless advocate for human trafficking victims as the founder of Victims2Survivors and an active member of the Free Network.

"It's a problem 365 days a year," she said. "Many victims are brought into Super Bowl host cities to be sold for sex. They're basically used as party favors."

"It's an epidemic problem in our state," said Groover-Skipper. "Florida ranks third in the nation behind California and Texas for the number of calls received by the National Human Trafficking Hotline."

To combat the problem, both Pasco and Hillsborough counties have formed their own human trafficking task forces consisting of law enforcement officials, school officials, religious and victim advocacy, medical professionals, port, transportation and aviation authority members, tourism officials and representatives from the hotel and motel industry where human trafficking most often occurs.

Among the goals of the task forces is to educate those who are most likely to come into contact with human trafficking victims including police, bus drivers, hotel employees, nurses and social service agency workers. Because victims tend to keep their circumstances secret out of fear and shame, it's not always easy to identify them.

As the Florida regional manager for the U.S. Institute Against Human Trafficking, it's Stephanie Costolo's job to teach employees what signs to look for that may indicate if someone is a victim. Then, once they spot a possible victim, they have to know where and how to report their suspicions without putting the victim or themselves in harm's way.

"It's especially pervasive in warm-weather states that tend to attract a lot of runaways and in coastal states where victims might enter the country illegally," Costolo said. "Unfortunately, Florida fits both critera."

Add to that the abundance of major sporting events in Florida such as World Wrestling Entertainment’s WrestleMania 2020 event set for April in Tampa, "and you've created the perfect storm for sex traffickers," said Groover-Skipper.