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Fighting Sex Trafficking Head-On in Arizona: A conversation with Mesa Police Department’s Sergeant Domenick Kaufman

Recently, Sgt. Domenick Kaufman of the Mesa, Arizona Police Dept. was kind enough to talk to us about his work to combat sex trafficking in his state. Sgt. Kaufman goes into detail about his department’s current tactics and approaches and how organizations like Shared Hope and the Hickey Family Foundation have helped those efforts.

— Q&A —

  1. Can you tell me a bit about Project Blue Heat? What are its goals? Has it been successful?

Sgt. Kaufman: Approximately 3 years ago, the Mesa Police Department looked into the issue of sex trafficking (adult and child victims) in an attempt to better understand the scope of the problem in our community.  Unfortunately, Mesa PD does not have a dedicated unit/squad tasked with investigating these types of cases.  Therefore, we created a collaborative approach to investigating cases and running proactive stings.   The personnel used for sex trafficking investigations are tasked with other duties (i.e. sex crimes, undercover narcotics, etc) and it was difficult to “free up” the necessary personnel on a consistent basis.  The purpose of Project Blue Heat is to ensure we have personnel dedicated to this initiative for a specified period of time.  The project was also a good opportunity to seek grant funds to assist with offsetting the costs of running proactive operations or stings.

Project Blue Heat goals:

  1. To identify and rescue underage persons who are victims of sex trafficking
  2. To identify and arrest sexual predators who are looking to traffic and/or engage in sexual activity with underage persons

So far, we believe it has been successful on a number of fronts.  We identified and rescued two 15-year-old girls who were being trafficked last year.  These are separate, unrelated incidents and their cases are still on-going.  In addition, we have a plan to consistently address sex trafficking in our community, we have made arrests of buyers to support demand reduction initiatives and we have established contacts with several adults who we suspect are victims of trafficking. They have been provided resource information as a potential “out” for them to use to break free from the life of prostitution.

  1. How has the Hickey Family Foundation played a role in Project Blue Heat?

Sgt. Kaufman: The Hickey Family Foundation has been a phenomenal partner and resource for us.  They were one of the first groups to come to Mesa PD and ask questions about what we are doing to combat sex trafficking.  They not only helped us identify the problem, but provided funding and networking resources to help create solutions.  We submitted for a grant from the Foundation at the end of last year to fund some operations for Blue Heat during 2015.  They graciously approved our grant and the funds have been used exclusively for our sex trafficking operations this year.

  1. How big of a problem is trafficking in Arizona?

Sgt. Kaufman: That is the number one question that everyone wants to know.  The problem is…we don’t really know for sure.  I can quote national statistics and research estimates that are found in various studies and publications, but I think the real answer is found from two valuable sources:

  1. Interviews with those arrested for prostitution in Mesa
  2. Online escort ads and “john” discussion blogs

When you start researching ads, and asking questions of those in the life, you come to realize this is happening everywhere.  There are hundreds of escort type ads posted every day that mention “Mesa” or “East Valley”.  Are all of those ads consenting adults?  No…of course not.  And when you speak to the adults who are now doing this without a pimp or trafficker, most will tell you that they got started when they were under the age of 18.  This tells me we have a very big problem.

  1. What inspired your department’s decision to focus on sex trafficking?

Sgt. Kaufman: We were inspired by questions from the community (including the Hickey Family Foundation), as well as our current Special Victims Unit Detectives and Missing Persons Investigators who had a feeling our “at-risk” youth population was being recruited by pimps/traffickers.

  1. What is different about the way your department is addressing the issue of trafficking?

Sgt. Kaufman: Mesa PD does not have a trafficking or Vice Unit, so we were forced to use a multidisciplinary approach to working these cases. We combined Special Victims Detectives with Undercover Detectives for targeted operations.

  1. One article stated that “ultimately, there’s a whole new approach to fighting human trafficking in Mesa.” What is the new approach?

Sgt. Kaufman: Not really a new approach, just a different focus. Rather than focusing on arresting prostitutes, we are looking to identify and arrest pimps and buyers.

  1. For the past several years, the Hickey Family Foundation helped bring over 100 law enforcement officers, prosecutors and other professionals from Arizona to the JuST Conference in DC. Can you talk about the effect this trip had on you and your team? Have you noticed a difference in Arizona’s response because of the training they received?

Sgt. Kaufman: In my opinion, the annual Shared Hope Conference is the premier training and networking event for sex trafficking investigators and victim service providers. People return from the conference with a better understanding of the scope of the problem.  Hearing first-hand accounts from survivors really impacts the participants in a profound way. Mesa has been lucky to have representatives attend the conference each of the last 3 years, and I feel we have gained improved support from our chain of command due to this.

  1. What are the areas of most concern for you currently in the fight against human trafficking in Arizona?

Sgt. Kaufman: We are doing a good job reacting to cases that come in, but my biggest concern is on the prevention side. I’d really like to see more programs for educating our youth to prevent them from being future victims and/or buyers.

[clear-line]

Meet Sgt. Domenick Kaufman at the 2015 JuST Conference! Sgt. Kaufman is teaming up with Detective Scott Carpenter of the Scottsdale Police Department to present No Vice Squad…No Problem! A Multi-Disciplinary Response to Sex Trafficking in Your Jurisdiction. This session is designed specifically for agencies without a dedicated vice squad or human trafficking unit.  This course will offer strategies for identifying the scope of sex trafficking in your jurisdiction, raising awareness for law enforcement and the community, developing protocols for sex trafficking investigations and collaborating with non-governmental organizations to increase resources in lean budgetary times. The training will provide an overview of how agencies are applying the victim-centered approach to their investigations. Case studies will demonstrate how this collaborative approach increases the recovery of trafficked victims along with the arrest and prosecution of traffickers and buyers. 

Learn more and register at sharedhope.org/just2015.

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New Science Connects Brain Development To Community Corrections For Youth in Juvenile Justice

llThe National Institute of Justice hosted a conference on justice-involved youth and the new science in brain development led by Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Assistant Attorney General Karol Mason, in addition to a panel of experts. Attorney General Lynch introduced a wide array of restorative programs and ideas to reduce recidivism among late teens and young adults based on new brain developments. Assistant Attorney General Mason moderated the panel. The conference was primarily concerned with youth and young adults ages 18 to 24 who are in the criminal justice system.

“Young adults are disproportionately likely to be arrested in general; disproportionately likely to be arrested for violent acts in particular; and more likely than any other age group to commit additional crimes within three years,” Attorney General Loretta Lynch began on the morning of September 8, 2015 at the Justice-Involved Young Adults segment of the National Institute of Justice Conference. “Research indicates that as young adults age through their late teens and early 20s, they experience a period of rapid and profound brain development. In addition to providing insight into why young adults act the way they do, brain science also indicates that we may have a significant opportunity, even after the teenage years, to exert a positive influence and reduce future criminality through appropriate interventions.”

According to Vincent Schiraldi, Senior Advisor at New York City’s Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice, adolescence changes through eras and should be based on intellectual milestones rather than age. Elizabeth Cauffman, Psychology Department of the University of California-Irvine, explained that the frontal lobe of the brain, in charge of decision making, is not fully developed until the age of 25. The ability to make intellectual decisions peaks at the age of 16, meaning that a 16 year old has the same cognitive functions to reason as a 30 year old. However, maturity, or a balance of decisions and emotion, does not peak until 25 when the brain is fully developed. So while a 16 year old has the full intellectual capacity to make a decision, the decision relies on impulse controls that are not yet fully developed. At the age of 25, it is expected that these young adults can completely reason through those decisions with a complete balance of cognitive function and emotion.

Now that scientists better understand brain development, law enforcement and policy makers can use this information to inform services and programs to help young adults caught in the criminal justice system. Panelists suggested that demographics such as family structure or income do not need to hinder the success of a young adult if they have hope and a will to change. Today, youth programs within the criminal justice system can be elaborate and are informed by new developments in psychology and science. Youth receive tutoring and education assistance, accountability, substance abuse counseling and more.

Glenn Martin, a previous youth offender and now founder of JustLeadershipUSA, stated, “You know, people tell me I’m the exception and I simply respond ‘I had exceptional programs.”

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Success! Three Trafficking Victims Granted Their Day in Court Against Backpage

WA Supreme Court

On September 3, the Washington Supreme Court issued a much anticipated order that will allow three domestic minor sex trafficking victims their day in court against Backpage.com. This marks a critical blow to the online classified giant’s claims of immunity under federal law and could lead to thousands of victims gaining access to justice against online facilitators at last.

In July 2012, three child sex trafficking victims who were advertised on Backpage.com filed a lawsuit against Backpage.com for its role in their exploitation. Backpage.com asked the court to dismiss the case, citing immunity under the Communications Decency Act. The Washington Supreme Court agreed to hear the motion on October 2014.

To support the sex trafficking victims’ pursuit of justice, Shared Hope International filed a joint Amicus Brief alongside those of the Washington Attorney General and others. The victims’ attorney, Erik Bauer, presented this precedent-setting case at the 2014 JuST Conference to inspire further actions on this issue.

For more cutting-edge strategies from national experts, join us at the 2015 JuST Conference.

Listen to Kubiki Pride, the mother of a child sex trafficking victim who lost her claim against Backpage.com in 2010, as she shares her story at the 2013 release of the Protected Innocence Challenge state report cards, an initiative designed to promote justice for victims of domestic minor sex trafficking.

With your help we will continue to keep up the pressure to close the virtual marketplaces of child sexual exploitation!

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Why wasn’t Jared Fogle charged with sex trafficking?

About two weeks ago, Jared Fogle, famous for his Subway sandwich diet, was indicted for two serious federal sex crimes: 1) receiving and distributing child pornography and 2) traveling to engage in illicit sexual contact with a minor. (Fogle has since pleaded guilty to both offenses).

Recently, public debate questioned, ”why wasn’t Fogle charged with rape?” But why not sex trafficking? The indictment alleges facts that would amount to sex trafficking under federal law, such as allegations that Fogle paid for sex acts with a minor in the Plaza Hotel and in the Ritz Carlton Hotel in New York City. The indictment also reports that Fogle offered to pay for sex with other minors and asked to be put in contact with other youth saying, “the younger the girl, the better.”

In May 2015 the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act (JVTA) was enacted and clarifies that the federal crime of sex trafficking includes buyer conduct by adding “patronizes” and “solicits” as prohibited conduct.  Importantly, force, fraud or coercion does not have to be proven when a minor is “caused to engage in a commercial sex act” to be sex trafficking. In fact, buyers commit sex trafficking offenses regardless of whether there is a third party or trafficker involved, as discussed in Shared Hope’s recent policy paper, Eliminating the Third Party Control Barrier to Identifying Juvenile Sex Trafficking Victims.

But what about New York’s ability to respond to this type of behavior and protect minors? The lack of appropriate state-level offenses is a glaring issue here. First, New York is an outlier as one of only 4 states that requires that force, fraud or coercion be used to identify a child who is bought or sold for sex as a victim of sex trafficking. Second, New York’s sex trafficking law does not apply to buyers, but only someone who “intentionally advances or profits from prostitution.” (Profiting from prostitution is defined to specifically exclude patrons.) Third, New York’s CSEC (Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children) offenses only protect victims under 14. The criminal offense of “Patronizing a prostitute” in New York would apply to buyers of older minors – the same way it applies to adults who are patronized –in the third degree, which is a Class A misdemeanor with a possible sentence of up to 1 year imprisonment and a possible fine not to exceed $1,000.  So, in essence when wealthy buyers travel to NYC and exploit minors for sex, it is potentially a low level offense under New York state law. Although “patronizing a prostitute” in the first and second degree apply when minors under the age of 11 and 14, respectively, are exploited, this simply exacerbates unfair, damaging stigmas that minors of any age who are sexually commercially exploited are considered “prostitutes.”

Regarding our cultural understanding and the language used to refer to the sex trafficking or commercial sexual exploitation of children, the public debate and sensitivity is rightfully attuned.   The exchange of money does not sanitize predatory behavior or the resulting victimization and underlying exploitation of minors’ vulnerabilities. Laws must be enacted and enforced, on both the federal and state level that apply to buyers with penalties that reflect the seriousness of these crimes.

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Why wasn’t Jared Fogle charged with sex trafficking?

About two weeks ago, Jared Fogle, famous for his Subway sandwich diet, was indicted for two serious federal sex crimes: 1) receiving and distributing child pornography and 2) traveling to engage in illicit sexual contact with a minor. (Fogle has since pleaded guilty to both offenses).

(Photo: Charlie Nye/The Star)

Recently, public debate questioned, ”why wasn’t Fogle charged with rape?” But why not sex trafficking? The indictment alleges facts that would amount to sex trafficking under federal law, such as allegations that Fogle paid for sex acts with a minor in the Plaza Hotel and in the Ritz Carlton Hotel in New York City. The indictment also reports that Fogle offered to pay for sex with other minors and asked to be put in contact with other youth saying, “the younger the girl, the better.”

In May 2015 the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act (JVTA) was enacted and clarifies that the federal crime of sex trafficking includes buyer conduct by adding “patronizes” and “solicits” as prohibited conduct.  Importantly, force, fraud or coercion does not have to be proven when a minor is “caused to engage in a commercial sex act” to be sex trafficking. In fact, buyers commit sex trafficking offenses regardless of whether there is a third party or trafficker involved, as discussed in Shared Hope’s recent policy paper, Eliminating the Third Party Control Barrier to Identifying Juvenile Sex Trafficking Victims.

But what about New York’s ability to respond to this type of behavior and protect minors? The lack of appropriate state-level offenses is a glaring issue here. First, New York is an outlier as one of only 4 states that requires that force, fraud or coercion be used to identify a child who is bought or sold for sex as a victim of sex trafficking. Second, New York’s sex trafficking law does not apply to buyers, but only someone who “intentionally advances or profits from prostitution.” (Profiting from prostitution is defined to specifically exclude patrons.) Third, New York’s CSEC (Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children) offenses only protect victims under 14. The criminal offense of “Patronizing a prostitute” in New York would apply to buyers of older minors – the same way it applies to adults who are patronized –in the third degree, which is a Class A misdemeanor with a possible sentence of up to 1 year imprisonment and a possible fine not to exceed $1,000.  So, in essence when wealthy buyers travel to NYC and exploit minors for sex, it is potentially a low level offense under New York state law. Although “patronizing a prostitute” in the first and second degree apply when minors under the age of 11 and 14, respectively, are exploited, this simply exacerbates unfair, damaging stigmas that minors of any age who are sexually commercially exploited are considered “prostitutes.”

Regarding our cultural understanding and the language used to refer to the sex trafficking or commercial sexual exploitation of children, the public debate and sensitivity is rightfully attuned.   The exchange of money does not sanitize predatory behavior or the resulting victimization and underlying exploitation of minors’ vulnerabilities. Laws must be enacted and enforced, on both the federal and state level that apply to buyers with penalties that reflect the seriousness of these crimes.

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