Editor’s note: Fourth in a five-part series on human trafficking in Wisconsin: Law enforcement's view on human trafficking in Wisconsin.

GREEN BAY, Wis. — The situation is difficult, complicated and it’s challenging to make much progress.

That is the definition of a quagmire. It could also be used to define the human-trafficking crisis in Wisconsin.

“We still see people out there who want to just characterize this as so-called sex work, or somehow legitimate,” said Green Bay Police Chief Chris Davis. “And just a lot of times, it's not. These people are not voluntarily engaged in this activity, and other people are profiting off it.

“So, just kind of arriving at more consensus about what's really going on, I think, is one of the important first steps. But, I think,that's a big part is people just misunderstand how bad this problem is.”

Then, there’s the next step.

“For a lot of us, it's just outside of our experience,” said Davis. “When there's a drug dealer operating on the street corner outside your house, that's in your face. This problem is below the radar, and it's happening all around you. But if you're not looking for it, you're not going to see it.”

And then, one more step, at least.

“It's a problem that takes a lot of resources to solve, especially from a from a policing perspective,” Davis said.  

He said expertise is needed, follow-up with victims, victim advocacy work to try and break the hold traffickers have on victims, and more.

“And when budgets are cut and resources are tight, and it's not a super visible problem, it just kind of goes under the radar,” Davis said. “This is something I have to admit, as one of the people responsible for the criminal justice system. This is a place where we have a lot of room for improvement about how we address this.

“You look at the resources that are devoted to stopping human trafficking and they're nothing compared to the resources we devote to solving violent crime, or drug trafficking, or some of those things.”

The process of finding answers that will lead to solutions is underway now, after Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul announced in January the formation of the Wisconsin Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force (WAHTTF). It will be comprised of federal, state, and tribal law enforcement, and victim-service providers.

But it’s not as if state officials have been ignoring the issue.

The Wisconsin Division of Criminal Investigation has offered an annual five-day human trafficking school that offers training in several areas. And this year’s school is filled to capacity.

But the WAHTTF plans to do more. Jan Miyasaki, the Director of Project Respect, who will oversee the victim services portion of the task force, said the first order is to develop shared protocol across law enforcement and victim services.

“And then, the expectation is that if you have an effective protocol, you have effective training, that secures victims’ confidentiality and rights and fairness, the hope would be that the community feels safer to come forward with information,” she said. “And to build a relationship with people because we really have to have the community involved. We can’t address this alone. 

“So, we need to have the community feel that they can trust this system to protect them. Because that is what they are worried about, right? That they will be adequately protected and that something will happen if they come forward and take that step.” 

Once protocol phases are implemented, Melissa Fus, special agent in charge of the Human Trafficking Bureau under the Wisconsin Division of Criminal Investigation and who is overseeing the law enforcement portion of the WAHTTF, said the goal would be to add more law enforcement entities.

“The more members we can bring on, the more the protocols become kind of a standard for how to investigate these types of investigations,” Fus said.

Miyasaki said these steps won’t necessarily provide measurable results, but she expects to see results.

“So, we would hope that a victim, or a victim being victimized, would read your piece and would say that we're working to honor somebody’s courage to come forward,” said Miyasaki. “That we know that sometimes identification of victimization in law enforcement, or any other system, can be experienced really negatively. People can be judged. People can be thought to be a perpetrator and not a victim. 

“I mean, there's all kinds of risks involved and so, we want to make that experience following coming forth with identifying the victimization, as being more positive. Traffickers will say, 'I'll take better care of you than the system.' And in some ways, they might be because we can't compete with material things, but we can compete with intangible things. You can compete with respect and non-judgment and compassion and support.”

Fus said this will require some adjustments with law enforcement.

“I think when we meet victims for the first time, we want all the information, and we want it right now,” she said. “And in these types of victim-centered approaches, law enforcement has to take a step back, connect them with victim services, and be patient to let that process take place. 

“Because sometimes, victim services are the ones that can get them more stabilized than law enforcement. We each have an important role in these types of cases, but we each have a very different role. And victim service providers are the ones that can help get them stabilized and get them to a good place. So, that they can come back, hopefully, with law enforcement and feel comfortable disclosing so we can move forward with an investigation.” 

Davis, from his experience, said that approach has merit.

“I think part of the solution involves more of an emphasis on connecting victims of human trafficking with services to get them out of that lifestyle,” he said.

“And when you talk to people that that's happened for, it makes a huge difference for those people.”
Milwaukee’s Nancy Yarbrough, a trafficking survivor and the founder and executive director for Fresh Start Learning, which does outreach and advocacy for human trafficking, believes law enforcement education is moving in the necessary direction.

“So I think because there are now learning more about what to watch for, and having those survivor advocates or having advocates there at the station or a part of the council, once things are happening, I think they get a better feel,’ she said. “As we look at this person's criminal report, how often has this girl, this young man, shoplifted and what are they shoplifting for and how it progressed. You can kind of see the threads that they were being exploited.”