Nebraska Governor Pillen proclaims Human Trafficking Awareness Month

BEATRICE – Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen signed a proclamation Tuesday noting January as Human Trafficking Awareness Month.  Flanked by New Attorney General Mike Hilgers, Nebraska State Patrol Superintendent John Bolduc and others….Pillen says this past fall the NSP launched a new hotline for reporting suspected trafficking.

"This is not only preventing...this is supporting victims, and I think that is the first step, proclamations and more education."

The hotline number is 833-PLS-LOOK. State Patrol Superintendent Bolduc said there’s a task force in place to address the problem of human trafficking, with local, state and federal input. But he said members of the public play an important role by reporting suspicious activity that could tip off law enforcement to human trafficking.

"In the first three months since the hotline went live, we received an average of twelve calls per month. Under the previous system, we received two to three tips per month....a substantial increase. That's a credit to Nebraskans picking up the phone, making that report...but it's also a credit to our media partners who have helped us publicize the existence of the hotline."

Bolduc encouraged the public to look for signs that may indicate trafficking is taking place, and then call to report the activity. "There are nine of those cases from just the last month that are active and open investigations, and of course we'll investigate those suspicious circumstances to its conclusion. Sometimes, they're eliminated as, no it wasn't what they thought it was. That's great...it's not another victim. But, certainly in cases where we do discover a victim, then we get into investigation and prosecution mode."

Bolduc says more tips are coming in, but he’s not certain if that means more trafficking is taking place, or better public awareness is responsible for generating more information.

Attorney General Mike Hilgers said raising awareness about human trafficking is a first step toward fighting the problem. He says the task force trained over 2,700 people in 2022, on how to spot the signs.  "Those individuals include prosecutors, firefighters, other law enforcement agencies...but also college students, nonprofits and community groups. That's incredibly significant."

Last year there were 13 people convicted of sex trafficking felonies in Nebraska. Hilgers says the state legislature has passed laws providing additional tools for fighting trafficking.  Task force coordinator Glen Parks says it’s difficult to say how much human trafficking goes on because of the lack of a baseline by which to measure it.