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United States Department of Justice Distributes Grants to Support Local Taskforces to Combat Trafficking

Assistant Attorney General R. Alexander Acosta of the Civil Rights Division, Assistant Attorney General Christopher A. Wray of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Wainstein of the District of Columbia announced that $7.6 million in grants were awarded to state and local law enforcement to combat human trafficking crimes.

Eighteen cities and counties in the US will receive grants to foster cooperation among the law enforcement and NGO communities by supporting official task forces to combat human trafficking. The Department of Justice's Office of Justice Programs (OJP) provided and will administer the awards under a new grant program that enables states and local law enforcement to work with victim and social services organizations and federal agencies to identify human trafficking victims and bring perpetrators to justice. Grant awards will not exceed $450,000 and will supplement existing efforts within the communities, such as those of the victims of trafficking services and refugee resettlement agencies.

In the District of Columbia, Michael A. Mason, Assistant Director of the FBI's Washington Field Office, and Metropolitan Police Department Chief Charles Ramsey joined the U.S. Attorney's Office, the Criminal Division and the Civil Rights Division in announcing the establishment of a task force that will join with a variety of non-governmental organizations and service providers to combat the growing problem of human trafficking within Washington, D.C. The law enforcement component of the Task Force will build upon the Metropolitan Police Department's long-standing efforts to eliminate prostitution in the District of Columbia through its highly-experienced Prostitution Unit. Along with dedicated resources from the FBI, MPD officers and FBI agents will follow the tried and true method of identifying and apprehending the prostitutes on the streets and then working "up the chain" to make cases against the traffickers themselves. The District joined 16 other U.S. Attorney's Offices across the country which have created task forces to attack human trafficking in every form.

¹http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/pressreleases/DOJ04760.htm