A former Williamsport police officer and nonprofits is working to train city law enforcement about human trafficking.
Clinton Gardner served with Williamsport’s police department for nine years. He recounted his last case with them at the July 11 City Council meeting.
“One of my last cases as an officer within the city was a human trafficking case,” he said. “It's 100% in our area and there are multiple cases that have occurred in our area within the last couple years alone.”
Gardner is a member of Lantern Rescue. The North Carolina based nonprofit founded in 2020 focuses on saving human trafficking and sexual exploitation victims worldwide. They provide educational resources to law enforcement and the public.
“Through my experience I had when I got involved in this (Lantern Rescue), I looked back and there was so much that I missed just because I didn't know it. It was a pit in my stomach,” Gardner said.
There are about 27 million trafficking victims worldwide, according to 2023 data collected by the U.S. State Department.
“It's the second fastest growing industry in the world behind narcotics trafficking. It's a billion dollar industry,” Gardner said.
There were 809 human trafficking offenses statewide in the last five years, according to data collected by the Pennsylvania court system.
Human trafficking makes up 3% of the total criminal cases in Lycoming County, according to Pa. Courts 2023 data. The counties with the highest percentage of trafficking cases are Chester, 9%; Dauphin, 10%; and Berks, 12%.
In 2022, there were 359,094 reports of missing children entered into the Federal Bureau of Investigation's National Crime Information Center (NCIC). Almost 550,000 missing person reports were submitted to the database the same year. About 31% of them are children.
Lantern Rescue has facilitated 1,840 rescues and 910 arrests in eight countries, according to their website. The organization works with U.S. and international governments and evaluates their law enforcement and court systems. They also work to improve aftercare programs for victims.
“We're firm believers that those three together working in conjunction can combat human trafficking successfully. Without one of those three components, it's not looking good,” Gardner said.
Lantern Rescue has donated trauma kits for victims to Williamsport’s Community Emergency Response Teams. The teams assist in human trafficking cases and filing search warrants. They also conduct eight hour-long education seminars for local social services, hospital staff and students.
“We offer typically an eight hour training, general education and that includes grooming methods, types of trafficking and scenarios. We go a little bit in depth depending on the audience, especially law enforcement,” Gardner said.
Williamsport Police Chief Justin Snyder believes that nonprofit organizations such as Lantern Rescue and the National Child Protection Task Force will help local police. Neither will cost the city a penny.
“This is to help bridge the gap between the lack of knowledge and what most domestic law enforcement agencies have right now. We're looking to bridge that gap and give training to our officers,” Snyder said. “They know what to look for at the student level with interaction with the community."
Pilot training through city police has already started with Lantern Rescue, Snyder said. Ongoing training will be done between both groups.
A nonprofit founded in 2019, Arkansas-based National Child Protection Task Force, will offer additional training and police resources. It is an intelligence organization that provides investigative assistance and training for law enforcement agencies.
The organization's chief operating officer, Teresa Jauregui, spoke with City Council over Zoom.
“We are a collective of full-time employees - a small group of eight of us. In addition to a number of volunteers, we are a collective of current and former law enforcement, prosecutors and individuals who are within the private sector,” Jauregui said. “Our entire focus is to assist law enforcement at no cost when it comes to cases involving missing and exploited use.”
A resolution was unanimously approved by City Council. It will allow collaborative and cooperative efforts in child sexual abuse and human trafficking investigations and train city police.
“We're able to guide law enforcement officers how to conduct investigations in a quick and efficient manner and we are able to provide them additional assistance in regards to investigation at no additional cost because we have access to various tools that have been donated to us. We always conduct investigations within the parameters of any sort of law enforcement investigation, so we are not going to be doing anything that is going to potentially jeopardize any constitutional rights of potential perpetrators or the witnesses,” Jauregui said.
