Dalton Mayor Annalee Sams welcomes conference attendees to Dalton
Hamilton Medical Center and the city of Dalton are sponsoring a free training event to support those tasked with human trafficking prevention and investigation.
The training – designed for police officers, prosecutors, analysts, advocates, dispatch and medical professionals – is scheduled for Tuesday, July 30 to Thursday, Aug. 1 from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. at the Dalton Convention Center, 2211 Tony Ingle Pkwy. in Dalton.
Dan Nash, founder of Human Trafficking Training Center and retired Missouri State Trooper, Human Trafficking Unit, will be the instructor. Topics will include prevention, operations and illicit massage business investigations.
Attendees will learn how to recognize the indicators of a possible human trafficking incident, how to ascertain if a party is a victim of human trafficking and best practices for interactions, the signs of trauma bonding and PTSD, how to use a victim-centered approach (Special Victims Methodology), how to identify possible electronic evidence of trafficking on cell phones, how to transition from a routine call or interview to a human trafficking investigation, how to interview a possible suspect in a human trafficking case, how to understand where victims come from and how they are groomed, and what the various multi-disciplinary groups are, how to use them, and how to work with victim advocates.
"From a medical standpoint, we get an opportunity when (victims) come to see medical people to have a different type of interaction than law enforcement," Judean Guinn, Hamilton's chief nursing officer told the conference. "We might be the one group of people that they can come to that’s kind of outside, it’s more of a safe zone, so you will learn tips (this week) that we can use to interact with possibly people who are victims of human trafficking."
The Mayor and Council of Dalton voted to authorize the use of funds from the National Opioid Settlement for the conference at their May 6th meeting. Under the terms of the settlement agreement, funds from the settlement can only be used for certain purposes. From those acceptable uses, the City of Dalton has elected to use the funds for human trafficking prevention, funding for the local Narcotics Anonymous chapter, and a partnership with Whitfield County’s Conasauga Community Addiction Recovery Center.
To RSVP, visit humantraffickingtrainingcenter.com, click schedule, then select July 30.