One of our own making a difference

Sergeant Chris Burchell from the Bexar County Sheriff’s office can be seen “do-gooding” throughout our country – Washington DC, Texas, New Mexico, California, and on and on. He helped establish the San Antonio Coalition Against Human Trafficking, and recently helped pass new Texas state legislature to start a state-wide coalition against human trafficking. This state-wide coalition will help enforce laws, train ALL law enforcement, and help smaller coalitions with funding and technical assistance on the ground.

Mr. Burchell is a typical police guy, except that he truly believes in a victim centered approach to survivors of trafficking-he believes that the survivors of these crimes are the victims, not the criminals. This, in turn, makes him the ideal and perfect person to train law enforcement – and that is just what he does around the US. The following article finds him in the state of New Mexico, again training law enforcement, and introducing the idea of coalitions to law enforcement and local NGOs in the state. He thoroughly understands that law enforcement needs the help of NGOs and social service providers, he teaches that law enforcement can not fight slavery alone.

Attorney General’s Office trains local law enforcement in human trafficking

By Elizabeth Piazza The Daily Times

Posted: 07/01/2009 12:00:00 AM MDT

FARMINGTON — Slavery in the United States didn’t end with the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation.It still exists today, in the form of human trafficking.

Human trafficking involves the use of force, fraud or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act.

Assistant Attorney General Maria Sanchez-Gagne along with San Antonio Sheriff’s Sgt. Christian Burchell on Tuesday educated local law enforcement as well as members of various social service agencies on how to recognize this modern-day slavery.

The attorney general’s office is working to team up law enforcement with non-government agencies and the community to establish coalitions statewide to fight human trafficking.

“(It) is going to take a community effort to help victims,” Gagne said.

Human trafficking is the second largest criminal industry worldwide behind drug dealing. It also is the fastest growing.

“Predominantly women and children are forced into sex and men are forced into labor,” Burchell said.

One of the problems in detecting human trafficking is that victims often are afraid to come forward.

Gagne and Burchell believe teaming with social service agencies will make it easier to find victims. They are prompting officers, non-government personnel and residents to look beneath the surface.

By joining forces with social service agencies such as victim assistance programs, law enforcement will have better access to victims in order to stabilize them in order to aid  in prosecution, Gagne said. The beauty of these programs is that they are not run by law enforcement, Burchell said.

The coalitions are victim centered programs.Services can be tailored to meet the specific needs of each victim by collaborating with various social service agencies, Gagne said.

Gov. Bill Richardson signed a new law last year making human trafficking a felony in New Mexico.

Under the new law, and depending on the victim’s age, human trafficking can be charged as a first, second or a third-degree felony and prison terms can range from 3 to 18 years.

Proponents hope the law prevents New Mexico from becoming a human trafficking corridor.

Gagne is unsure of how prevalent human trafficking is in San Juan County or statewide. No cases have been prosecuted yet.

But many officials believe it is a concern.

Victims are found in legal and non-legal labor sectors, including sweat shops, agricultural fields, restaurants or hotels.

Children as young as 10 are being sold and forcibly raped everyday, Burchell said.

Each year, an estimated 800,000 to 900,000 men and women are forced to become slaves for sex purposes or for labor, according to the Web site humantrafficking.org.

As many as half of those are younger than 18.

Human trafficking doesn’t have to include crossing the border and many U.S. citizens are victims of human trafficking, Gagne said.

“As long as people allow (human trafficking) to continue, it will continue,” Burchell said. “It’s up to good people to stop it.”