Attorney General Lynn Fitch (R-MS) and AttorneyGeneral Kathy Jennings (D-DE) led a bipartisan coalition of 41 state and territory Attorneys General in a letter urging Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert Kennedy to require better cooperationwith local law enforcement from the next operator of the National Human Trafficking Hotline.
“Local law enforcement needs third-party tips to end trafficking and help itsvictims,” said Attorney General Lynn Fitch. “Polaris’ refusal to share thisvital intelligence has severely impacted the value of the National Hotline forvictims of human trafficking. As the Hotline award comes up for review, weneed the Department of Health and Human Services to be our partner inrestoring this function of the Hotline so we do not lose one more person due tothis gap in reporting."
“Human trafficking victims can’t afford to wait while an operator decides theircase is worthy,” said Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings.
“People who call a publicly funded reporting hotline deserve to know that theirreports are making it to law enforcement. Polaris’ failure to carry out thatmission is unacceptable. This is a bipartisan priority, and we’re asking DHHS tobe our partner in protecting victims and finding traffickers before they cancover their tracks. We need to fix this — and we need to fix it now.” Since 2007, Polaris has operated the National Human Trafficking Hotline withmillions of dollars in funding authorized by Congress. States rely on the Hotlineto forward third-party tips of suspected human trafficking to local lawenforcement to arrest traffickers, safely recover victims, and uncover evidenceof trafficking rings and operations. It was recently discovered that Polaris wasfailing to forward third-party tips about adult victims to state law enforcementexcept in limited circumstances. Additionally, states have often discovered adelay of even several months before the Hotline shared those tips with states.
This practice is contrary to what Polaris itself advertises, to what states andorganizations have come to expect from this partnership, and, the AttorneysGeneral believe, to what Congress expects from its funding. In February 2023, abipartisan coalition of 36 Attorneys General asked for Congress to require theHotline to report these third-party tips to local law enforcement. As a result,then-HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra stated that the agency was “incorporatingadditional language in the next [award notice] outlining specific coordinationrequirements with law enforcement.” HHS is currently seeking applicants for a new award of this funding.
That notice of funding opportunity does require the Hotline operator to develop aplan for working with law enforcement.In today’s letter, the Attorneys General ask Secretary Kennedy, “As youconsider applicants, we urge you to ensure that the organization that is awardedthe grant for the National Human Trafficking Hotline demonstrates itscommitment to being a partner to our offices and local law enforcement withtimely reports of trafficking tips. We have worked hard to teach the public thesigns of trafficking and how to report it when they think they see it. But sendingthe public to the Hotline when they see someone in trouble is futile if theorganization running it refuses to share those tips and share them in a timelymanner.
”The Attorneys General continued, “To be clear, we are not asking that theHotline report calls from victims who say they do not want their call reported.But we are asking them to send us the tips they get from anyone other than thevictim. We are asking for the tips from the trucker who sees suspicious behavioron the road, the flight attendant who notices something unusual in the airport,the front desk clerk who sees something that does not make sense at theirmotel, or the citizen who sees the same woman being abused at the cornermarket week after week.
Those tips matter, and reporting those tips can savelives.”The letter was led by Attorneys General Fitch, Kathy Jennings (DE), Liz Murrill(LA), and Aaron Ford (NV) and signed by the Attorneys General of thefollowing states and territories: Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arkansas,California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa,Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, NewYork, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania,Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, VirginIslands, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
Original source can be found here.