| The problem this study addresses is the inadequate training afforded to police officers in the Tampa Bay Florida region concerning human trafficking. Many cases of trafficking are going undetected because of the lack of knowledge on how these cases should be investigated (Territo & Glover, 2014). There is a critical need to evaluate the amount and quality of training available to law enforcement officers on the topic of human trafficking. One reason is the scope of trafficking activity has increased dramatically in the state of Florida during the last decade (Helton, 2016). Since 2007, there have been an estimated 6,819 calls regarding human trafficking in the state of Florida alone (Jordan, 2013). The United States has determined out of the national count of 5,544 this year of confirmed cases of human trafficking, 1,518 of those calls came directly from Florida (Helton, 2016). In this study, 30 law enforcement officers from 6 individual law enforcement agencies including the highest-ranking law enforcement official from each agency or their designee located within the Tampa Bay Region will be interviewed concerning the inadequate training on human trafficking. Also, inspection of policy and procedures manuals from each of the six law enforcement agencies will be evaluated for themes and quality of information on training requirements and standards for their officers on human trafficking. Data from the study will be used to create better training protocols for officers responsible for preventing trafficking and for investigation of potential trafficking cases. The findings of this study revealed a lack of specialized training on human trafficking for law enforcement officers in the Tampa Bay Region. There were six themes revealed during this study. These themes are: Inconsistencies of officer's knowledge on whether their agencies have handled and completed made any cases on human trafficking, Lacking an understanding of the crime of human trafficking, Lack of formalized training on human trafficking, Insufficient training for first responders on human trafficking investigations, Inconsistent Cooperation across Agencies on Human Trafficking, and Lack of Agency Collaboration on human trafficking cases. |
