Volunteers want to give local police tools to rescue those trapped in human trafficking in Malheur County.
An Ontario nonprofit is working to raise $11,000 to buy mini-cameras, small microphones and other equipment for police to use in “sting” operations.
The Tri-County Anti-Trafficking Advocates has collected about $2,500 so far, according to Glenn Blankenship, president of the nonprofit and a pastor at Christian Life Fellowship.
Such equipment would give police to conduct missions as needed “instead of having an operation every five or six years,” Blankenship said.
Trafficking involves victims enslaved for sex or other work.
The nonprofit has been set up as a fundraising partner of the Tri-County Anti-Trafficking Taskforce.
The Malheur County Court recently signed off on a renewed state grant for the Malheur County District Attorney’s Office to manage the task force.
The grant came with a change in focus for Kim DeRose, task force coordinator.
Her task now, she said, is to design a “checklist” for organizations who encounter victims of human trafficking. The protocols will provide police, social service agencies and medical providers step-by-step guidance on where to send victims for services.
“Our main goal now is to get in play a plan of action,” DeRose said. She plans to have the protocols drafted by next September.
DeRose in recent years had worked directly with human trafficking victims. She said in about three years she helped 30 victims with lodging, food clothing, transportation and more.
Such help now will come from nonprofits such as Ontario’s Project DOVE, she said.
She said human trafficking is “very underreported” with only an estimated 10 to 15 percent of victims identified.
DeRose said that means in the local area, there may be up to 100 adult victims a year.
Equipment for law enforcement would be a big help, she said.
DeRose said she was part of a police operation in Idaho recently and seven of eight women sent to motels for prostitution were trafficking victims, she said.
“We just know that trafficking is happening in our community,” Blankenship said. “When I first started learning about how prevalent the issue is within Malheur County, I was a little shocked.”
DeRose said education the public about trafficking is important, and she did so recently in a visit to Nyssa High School. She said she tied trafficking to domestic violence because most cases of trafficking tie back to such violence.
Blankenship agrees more people “need to be aware” of trafficking.
People can donate to the equipment effort by going online to the task force website at www.tcatt.org or by mailing a check made out to TCATT to 1178 SW 4th St., Ontario, 97914.
He said more volunteers are needed for both the nonprofit board and the task force. Anyone interested in joining the nonprofit can contact Blankenship at his church at (541) 889-7264. Those interested in helping the task force can reach DeRose by email at [email protected].
