COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Arnold Sports Festival is dedicated to strength, power and competition. But it also can attract those looking to prey on the vulnerable.
“Any time we have a large event come to Columbus, like the Arnold, we have to have a heightened sense of awareness,” said Columbus Division of Police Sgt. Dana Hess, the director of the Central Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force.
She said, while the task force expects a surge during these types of events, there’s only so much the members can do to prepare.
They will check illicit websites during the event. And they will visit local hotels to offer up reminders of the signs of human trafficking along with contact information.
“Our hospitality professionals are our front line of defense, so the hotel managers, the hotel workers, the people who clean the rooms, the food service staff, they’re the ones that are probably going to see anything that’s out of the ordinary and hopefully they’ll be able to report it to us,” Sgt. Hess said.
Long before this year’s Arnold, the task force was working to step up its efforts to cut down on the crime.
In the last year, the task force trained more than 90 police officers, firefighters, social workers and hospital staffers to recognize the signs of human trafficking. And those trained now have a direct line to the task force.
“There is no real way to quantify the amount of human trafficking that’s coming to Columbus,” Sgt. Hess said. “One thing I would say everyone should be mindful of – our task force is fighting a war against human trafficking every single day. So, just because we have a large event that comes to Columbus, doesn’t mean human trafficking isn’t occurring every other day. We just have so many extra people that are in town, staying at hotels, that it increases the demand for prostitution. Therefore, naturally more human trafficking is probably occurring.”
While the issue is hard to quantify, Sgt. Hess says the task force received 365 tips last year alone, one for every single day of the year. And, in just the past three days, the task force has received five tips.
“We’re expecting an influx of business this weekend,” said Bekah Moran, engagement manager for Freedom a la Cart. “Then there’s also the other side of it, of, we know that this is a huge trafficking issue.”
Moran said those involved with Freedom have been focusing on awareness heading into this weekend. Freedom is a non-profit social enterprise dedicated to helping human trafficking survivors. It started back in 2009, and the downtown café opened last spring.
“Any type of large sporting event, it brings with is a lot of trafficking,” Moran said. “That’s because of the population that’s coming in. A lot of times, individuals that might be buyers will come in, so traffickers know this, and they bring women within our area.”
Moran says those most at risk of trafficking are those at lower income levels, those battling addiction and those in foster care.
But Freedom stands ready to help anyone who might need it. In the past six years, Freedom has employed 91 survivors. Of those, 84% have continued on in life with no new criminal record.
“I think there’s a little bit of a misconception sometimes on trafficking of, oh, it’s just a white van and someone’s taken, but no, it’s those that are vulnerable, those that are on the streets, those that are dealing with addiction. Sometimes a trafficker will use that in order to get them to do something that they do not want to do,” Moran said.
That’s why she suggests being on the lookout for anything suspicious. Some warning signs are spotting a younger woman or man looking uncomfortable with an older person, or someone older controlling a group of young people.
Anyone who suspects human trafficking is asked to call the CPD non-emergency line at 614-645-4545.