New Jersey Coalition Against Human Trafficking Law Enforcement Conference

From Event to Evidence: Building Trafficking Cases That Survive the World Cup Surge

• What breaks in prosecutions during surge events
• How short-term operations create long-term case failures
• What investigators must document differently when cases originate in event-driven operations
• How rushed rescues without recovery planning weaken buyer cases

Morning Keynote
From Control to Care: Dignity as the Missing Infrastructure in Anti-Trafficking Systems

This keynote brings together two worlds that too often operate in parallel rather than in partnership: law enforcement and lived experience.
Drawing from decades of national leadership in anti-human trafficking initiatives in addition to her own lived experience as a survivor, Tanya M. Gould challenges the field to move beyond awareness and enforcement alone, toward systems built on dignity, accountability, and shared responsibility.
Rather than framing trafficking solely as a crime to be disrupted or a trauma to be managed, this keynote reframes it as a systemic failure of protection, attachment, and identity. Tanya introduces a dignity-centered framework that helps professionals understand how trauma impacts behavior without allowing trauma to become identity and how systems can respond without unintentionally reproducing control, dependency, or harm.
Through real-world examples, policy-relevant insights, and human-centered language, participants will be invited to examine:
• How enforcement and survivor-centered care can coexist without conflict
• The role of boundaries, structure, and community in sustainable healing
• How dignity, when treated as infrastructure rather than sentiment, changes outcomes for investigations, prosecutions, and long-term recovery
This keynote is both a call to alignment and a practical roadmap that honors the critical role of law enforcement while elevating survivor expertise as essential, not optional.

Blue Dot Human Trafficking Initiative

The Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement, Anti-Human Trafficking Manager along with Mercy Medical Center, Forensic Nursing Program and the Baltimore City Human Trafficking Collaborative, Victim Services Committee continue to run the “Blue Dot Human Trafficking Initiative” in the City of Baltimore.  Blue Dot is a 24/7 emergency response to any human trafficking survivor or sex worker located in Baltimore City or surrounding jurisdictions.  This program will ensure that no survivors of trafficking fall through the cracks, and that all identified survivors receive appropriate services.  Only law enforcement, fire department EMTs, Hospitals, and selected service providers can access the Blue Dot.  Mercy is acting as a one stop shop for entry into services.  Survivors are offered a large array of services at Mercy in include medical exams, forensic exams, food, clothing, SDT testing/treatment to include AIDS, detox, mental health and other services.  There is also onsite advocacy for survivors who will connect them to long term case management and housing.  This program requires no insurance and is free of charge to the survivor.  The survivor will remain anonymous throughout their time at Mercy Medical Center.
 
The Blue Dot Human Trafficking Initiative has become a National Gold Standard and received the 2023 Presidential Award for Excellence in Combating Trafficking in Persons.  There were only two recipients from across the United States that received this prestigious award.  Blue Dot has been a game changer for the City of Baltimore. 

Collaborating on Purpose

Collaboration is perhaps the most important need within the anti-trafficking movement, yet it is routinely misunderstood, confused, and often overlooked in pursuit of individual interest. Multidisciplinary teams, comprised of law enforcement and service providers are a relatively knew step in fostering collaboration in the counter-trafficking space but do they work? Whom do they best serve? What are the results of these teams? In 2019, Doug Gilmer began researching these questions as part of his doctoral dissertation. His research, the first of its kind on this topic ever conducted, involved in-depth interviews and focus groups of law enforcement, service providers, and ultimately survivors, across the country to better understand the outcomes of effective collaboration, what effective collaboration looks like, how collaboration really works, and  the  challenges to collaboration.  In this presentation, Doug boils down this research (leaving out the boring research stuff), and presents his findings in a very unique, humorous, and memorable format to help those wanting to work more effectively, build shared purpose within their teams, task forces, and MDTs. 

Case Scenario Presentation: “Seminole County Human Trafficking Case Study”

This case scenario will walk through real investigations conducted by the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office, highlighting how traffickers recruit victims through social media, the steps taken to identify and recover victims, and the challenges faced during prosecution. It will include examples of undercover operations, evidence collection, and multi-agency collaboration, as well as the obstacles encountered when preparing victims for trial. The goal is to demonstrate the importance of a victim-centered approach and persistence in dismantling trafficking networks while ensuring survivors receive long-term support.

Bridging the Gap: Survivors and Law Enforcement in Conversation

Moderator – Gina Cavallo

Fear and mistrust of law enforcement remain among the most significant barriers to identifying victims and holding traffickers accountable, not only during major events like the World Cup, but long after the crowds leave and the headlines fade. This moderated panel brings survivor leaders and law enforcement professionals into honest conversation about where trust is lost, how system responses can unintentionally retraumatize, and what meaningful partnership truly looks like in practice.
Through real-world experiences and case-based discussion, panelists will examine critical gaps in identification, reporting, and investigative processes, and explore how agencies can build sustainable, survivor-centered practices that extend well beyond the tournament

Action objectives:
• Identify common points where survivors disengage from law enforcement and why
• Recognize behaviors, language, and procedures that build trust rather than fear
• Apply trauma-informed, survivor-centered approaches during first contact and interviews
• Strengthen collaboration between survivor-led organizations and investigative teams
• Commit to at least three concrete changes participants will implement in their departments following the conference

How Good Legislation can Help Law Enforcement Successfully Prosecute Offenders and
Protect Victims

Panel From Identification to Prosecution: A Survivor-Centered Case Pathway

Moderator – Theresa Hilton 

This case-based session examines a trafficking investigation from first contact through prosecution, highlighting how investigative choices impact survivor cooperation, evidence development, and case outcomes. Using real-world scenarios, the presenter will demonstrate where cases commonly fail, and how trauma-informed, demand-focused strategies improve both survivor safety and successful prosecution.

Participants will leave with a clearer understanding of how to integrate survivor engagement, recovery planning, and accountability into every phase of a trafficking investigation.

When the World Is Watching: Why the World Cup Is a National Accountability Test

• Why mega-events expose systemic blind spots
• How Congress views the World Cup as a stress test for national trafficking policy
• What federal accountability looks like before, during, and after the tournament
• Why this conference matters in shaping long-term reform

This becomes: Why this moment matters nationally.

Leadership & Commitment

Leading by Example in a World Cup Year

• Why county sheriffs must treat the World Cup as a year-long readiness effort, not a two-week operation
• How leadership culture inside departments directly affects survivor trust
• The responsibility of command staff to model trauma-informed, survivor-centered practices
• His commitment to collaboration with survivor-led organizations and multidisciplinary partners
• A clear charge to fellow leaders in the room: what he expects departments to implement after this conference

Sex Buyers and the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup: A Case Study in Organized Crime

• How consumer demand for commercial sex spiked around the soccer world cup in South Africa
• The intersection of sex buying, drug trafficking, and organized crime
• Wide implications for law enforcement, policymakers, and anti-trafficking efforts

Keynote Speaker

After the Stadium Lights Fade: What Accountability Means for Survivor Recovery

• What it means for survivors when major events pass and nothing changes
• The cost of “event-only” responses
• Why accountability must outlive the stadium lights
• How survivors experience systems that prepare for the World Cup but abandon them afterward

This becomes: Why legacy matters more than optics.

Ending Demand: Accountability, Recovery, and the Role of Law Enforcement

Gina Cavallo – Moderator

Human trafficking does not end with victim identification, and it does not persist without demand. This panel brings survivor leaders and law enforcement together to examine how investigative practices, prosecution strategies, and community partnerships can disrupt buyers and traffickers while ensuring survivors are not left to navigate recovery alone.

Panelists will explore how survivor experiences expose gaps in accountability, why demand-focused operations often fail without survivor trust, and how agencies can align recovery planning with investigative goals, particularly in preparation for and beyond large-scale events like the World Cup.

Through candid dialogue and real-world examples, this session will challenge participants to rethink how accountability, recovery, and demand reduction must operate as a single strategy, not separate tracks.

Action objectives:

• Understand how survivor engagement strengthens buyer and trafficker accountability
• Identify ways current systems unintentionally shield demand while burdening survivors
• Examine investigative approaches that center accountability without retraumatization
• Learn how coordinated recovery planning improves case integrity and prosecution success
• Commit to concrete steps departments can take to reduce demand before, during, and long after the World Cup
• Local law enforcement
• Service provider/advocate

Focus:

• Response coordination
• Hotlines, operations, communication channels
• What survivors need to feel safe engaging
• Barriers and solutions

No Trafficking Zone Law Enforcement Training

No Trafficking Zone conducts scenario-based, interactive, real-time training for law enforcement officers, recognizing that human trafficking is often hidden in plain sight. Victims are frequently encountered not by specialized human trafficking investigators, but by patrol officers, school resource officers, deputies, and first responders who may lack the training, resources, or experiential knowledge needed to identify both trafficking victims and traffickers in real time. This one-of-a-kind, real-time training model is led by human trafficking specialist Jacquelyn Aluotto and survivor-leader Courtney Litvak, who together train and work alongside local, state, federal, and tribal law enforcement agencies. The training places officers in realistic scenarios
they are likely to encounter in the field, strengthening their ability to recognize trafficking indicators, assess risk factors, identify traffickers, and respond appropriately using victim centered and trauma-informed approaches.

No Trafficking Zone’s specialized law enforcement training is meticulously designed to equip officers with practical, actionable tools to effectively combat human trafficking. Officers learn how to investigate cases, document indicators, engage victims safely, and navigate the complexities of coercion, control, and exploitation. The training also includes customized, culturally responsive strategies to ensure officers can appropriately engage with diverse
communities and populations.

Through this immersive training, law enforcement personnel become a critical frontline force in disrupting and dismantling human trafficking networks. Agencies are also trained on how to effectively leverage partnerships with advocates, survivor leaders, service providers, and multiagency task forces, ensuring coordinated responses that protect victims, strengthen investigations, and bring traffickers to justice.