Suffolk County Anti-Trafficking Initiative

SUFFOLK COUNTY ANTI-TRAFFICKING INITIATIVE

About: Background and purpose

Human Trafficking impacts all walks of life, ages, genders and nationalities. The Suffolk County Anti-Trafficking Initiative (SCATI) Task Force was formed to promote a coordinated approach to prevention and response through education, outreach, data analysis and collaboration.

The SCATI is a cooperative effort made possible through a grant funded by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), and Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA). The collaboration brings together a network of organizations, service providers, victim advocates, faith-based groups, educators, and Federal, State and Local Government and Law Enforcement Agencies. All agencies involved share a commitment to a victim-centered, trauma-informed approach in providing comprehensive services, investigations, and prosecutions.

Mission:

The mission of the Suffolk County Anti-Trafficking Initiative Task Force is to coordinate efforts to identify and rescue victims, provide them with the services and treatment required for them to rebuild and reclaim their lives, while encouraging a cohesive law enforcement collaboration to effectively investigate and prosecute human trafficking crimes.

SCATI aims to create and implement sustainable approaches to prevention and intervention strategies through early identification of victims of all types of human trafficking within Suffolk County, NY. While creating strategies and protocols to provide services that recognize the individual needs of trafficking victims, the task force will also focus on aggressively pursuing justice by strengthening investigations and prosecutions of sex and labor trafficking offenses at the local, state, tribal, and federal levels.

The policies and actions of the task force are informed by experience and data. By developing and enhancing a process for sharing and analyzing law enforcement and victim service data, SCATI is able to evaluate the scope of the trafficking issue in the geographic area covered by the task force using statistically reliable methods as well as identify trends or gaps in victim’s identification, services, investigations and prosecutions

Lastly but equally as important, SCATI strives to raise public awareness of human trafficking through community outreach and education. By designing and implementing public awareness campaigns and disseminating materials, the Initiative will influence the community members to improve their responses to assist victims.

By sharing the responsibility, we can protect the most vulnerable segment of our population and combat human trafficking.