FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2004
WWW.USDOJ.GOV OPA
TDD (202) 514-1888 DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE ANNOUNCES HUMAN TRAFFICKING TASK FORCE
IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA AND GRANTS FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT TO
FIGHT HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND ASSIST VICTIMS Washington, D.C., Awarded $450,000 Grant WASHINGTON, D.C. Â Assistant Attorney General R. Alexander Acosta of the Civil Rights Division, Assistant Attorney General Christopher A. Wray of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Wainstein of the District of Columbia announced today that the Department of Justice is awarding more than $7.6 million in grantsÂof which $450,000 will go to the District of ColumbiaÂto enable state and local law enforcement to fight human trafficking by creating task forces to aid in the identification and rescue of human trafficking victims. The Department of Justice's Office of Justice Programs (OJP) provided and will administer the awards under a new grant program that enables states and local law enforcement to work with victim and social services organizations and federal agencies to identify human trafficking victims and bring perpetrators to justice. Grant awards will not exceed $450,000 and will supplement existing efforts within the communities, such as those of the victims of trafficking services and refugee resettlement agencies. The D.C. Task Force on Trafficking in Persons, part of a broader push by the Department of Justice and other federal agencies, concentrates the resources of the Criminal and Civil Rights Divisions of the Department of Justice, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, the FBI and the Metropolitan Police Department on the problem of human trafficking in the District of Columbia. The Task Force will work closely with community organizations and support groups committed to helping the victims of this crime. The Task Force effort is in conjunction with Operation Innocence Lost, a program sponsored by the FBI Crimes Against Children Division, the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) of the Criminal Division and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Innocence Lost, announced in early 2003, is a nationwide initiative to focus on child victims of interstate sex trafficking in the United States. | |
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