Montana U.S. Attorney's Office Hosting Meeting and Training on Human Trafficking

BILLINGS – The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Montana, through its Joint Montana Human Trafficking Task Force, is hosting a meeting and training on the status of human trafficking for the regional human trafficking task forces from across the state.  The training is in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office for Victims of Crime Training and Technical Assistance Center based in Washington, DC, the Laboratory to Combat Human Trafficking based in Colorado, and the Yellowstone County Area Human Trafficking Task Force.   The training will take place at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Billings and at the Billings Public Library on November 14, 2017.  The training is open to registered law enforcement personnel and others affiliated with the state and regional task forces.  An evening session at Rocky Mountain College is open to the public and to the press.

The morning meeting and training is designed to discuss the current status of Montana’s state and regional task forces, as well as current trends, data, and research in human trafficking.  Regional task forces in Montana include Missoula, Great Falls and Yellowstone County, with new task forces being established in Bozeman and Kalispell.  A primary goal of the training is to discuss how each task force is operating through an assessment of their current operations, identification of potential gaps or areas for improvement, and establishing goals for each task force in the fight against human trafficking in Montana. 

The afternoon session is dedicated to the Colorado Project, a product of the Laboratory to Combat Human Trafficking in Colorado.  The Colorado Project was a research-based initiative in Colorado about human trafficking that then created a “replicable model for communities and states to utilize” and “establish a baseline of promising practices to understand what is working to combat human trafficking in the areas of prevention, protection, prosecution, and partnerships” (commonly referred to as the “4 Ps”).  

This meeting and training builds off of several human trafficking trainings held in Montana over the last two years.  This includes trainings in March 2016 held in Missoula and in May 2017 in Billings designed for law enforcement and other personnel in recognizing, investigating, and prosecuting human trafficking in Montana. 

A community event is being held in the evening at Rocky Mountain College.  The evening session, led by the Yellowstone County Area Human Trafficking Task Force, the FBI, and Deliver Fund is titled “Technology and Human Trafficking:  Parents and Teachers Protecting Children in the Digital Age.”  The event is from 6:00-8:00 PM at Rocky Mountain College’s Fortin Center.  All members of the community are invited. 

The morning and afternoon training is closed the public and the press.  The evening session is open to the public and the press.