By Alexandra Golder
Intern
As one recent case demonstrates, New Hanover County’s size and location make it vulnerable to human trafficking, but new training methods are helping police recognize these cases and combat the growing problem.
“We’re working just as many cases as Charlotte and Raleigh are,” said Detective William Campbell of the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office. “If we keep attacking the demand and the suppliers, we’re going to make a difference.”
The sheriff’s office’s most recent arrest on human trafficking charges involved a Raleigh man who was already facing similar charges, but fled to Wilmington, where police said he continued to peddle not only drugs, but flesh as well. The sheriff’s office charged David Gantt, 27, of Raleigh, with two counts of promoting prostitution of a minor, two counts of human trafficking, two counts of trafficking heroin and a charge of possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell after an April 12 arrest at the Budgetel Hotel on Market Street.
Broadly defined as the illegal movement of people for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation, human trafficking targets mostly female and underage victims, who are lured into an exploitative and abusive sex trade. Law enforcement officials like Campbell see human traffickers as they travel a circuit from one big city to the next.
“It’s not so much humans being smuggled,” Campbell said. “It’s more sexual servitude and sex trafficking.”
To help recognize the problem, local police have been trained to look for red flags at crime scenes, which Campbell said has also helped open eyes to the scale of the problem in the area. Lindsey Roberson, a private attorney and former prosecutor of the New Hanover County District Attorney’s Office, has provided training to both the Wilmington Police Department and New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office.
Officers are made to be aware if there is a male at the location of the call doing all the talking, Campbell said. They look for other abnormal signs, such as there being multiple cell phones or debit cards in the room, or if one man is in a room with multiple females. Officers have encountered cases in hotels, homes, even cars across the region.
“It can happen anywhere,” Campbell said. “It’s all over town.”
Most cases of human -trafficking begin with a domestic violence or assault call. By investigating the scene, officers are able to unveil that there is something more going on. Officers who are trained also take proactive measures, Campbell said.
“The call is rarely what you’re getting there for,” he said.
On every case, the sheriff’s office uses A Safe Place, a Wilmington organization that assists victims of sex trafficking in the southeast region of North Carolina, to act as an advocate for the victims. (See also Lumina News’ feature story about A Safe Place in the April 14, 2016, edition.) Additionally, the Salvation Army’s Project Freeing Individuals Gripped by Human Trafficking in N.C. (FIGHT) works with A Safe Place to coordinate a rapid response team for victims.
“There is a need for strong victim service providers,” said Campbell, adding that law enforcement is limited in the area of victim services, making advocacy groups such as A Safe Place and Project FIGHT all the more valuable to these cases.
Roberson added that having officers and advocates who are trained to understand the problem and who know how to talk to victims makes a substantial impact on both prosecuting these cases and helping the victims.
“The best thing for victims to have is collaborative relationships,” Roberson said.
