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Human
trafficking is the exploitation by force, fraud
or coercion of vulnerable people - often immigrants - for
forced labor, domestic servitude, or commercial sex operations.
Human trafficking has become a multi-billion dollar global
crime impacting nations - and neighborhoods - around the world.
Florida is one of the highest destination states for women
and children trafficked into the United States. In the past
5 years, law enforcement and social service providers have
identified
multiple
cases of human trafficking in the Clearwater and Pinellas
County Florida area.
In
October 2006, the Clearwater Florida Police Department was
awarded a Department of Justice grant to fund the creation
of the Clearwater Area Task Force on Human Trafficking (CATFHT).
The mission of the task force is to identify and rescue victims,
create a coordinated law enforcement system to investigate
and prosecute these crimes, and to deliver social, legal and
immigration services to human trafficking victims in the Clearwater
and Tampa Bay area.
The
Task Force will serve as a mechanism for communication and
strategic collaboration between law enforcement agencies and
service providers; coordinate community resources; promote
community awareness of the human trafficking; and train intermediary
communities on human trafficking indicators and responses.
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