Almost 500 people across the state were picked up for crimes associated with human trafficking in a February sting operation that included more than 80 federal and local law enforcement agencies—14 were arrested in Santa Barbara County.
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office Human Trafficking Task Force participated in the eighth annual Operation Reclaim and Rebuild, to rescue survivors of human trafficking, identify and arrest their traffickers, disrupt the demand, and connect survivors to resources, according to a Feb. 15 Sheriff’s Office press release. In total, agencies arrested 477 people in California and rescued 73 juvenile and adult survivors, the press release continued.
“Santa Barbara is a well-known, affluent area, and obviously people come to try and make money. That’s why we get traffickers who bring survivors here, to prey upon our wealthy community,” county Sheriff’s Sgt. Neil Gowing explained. “It is true even for North County—where it may not be as affluent—we have a decent sized middle class population that makes a decent wage. … It’s a niche market where they think they can come in and make money without as much competition.”
The Sheriff’s Office, Santa Barbara Police Department, Santa Maria Police Department, and the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office operated in Lompoc and Santa Barbara for four days, arrested sex buyers, and identified two potential victims who were later connected with resources, county Sheriff’s Sgt. Neil Gowing said.
Established in 2016 with a U.S. Department of Justice grant, the Sheriff’s Office Human Trafficking division was renewed in 2020 with $1.2 million in funding for three years. From 2017 to 2021, the Human Trafficking Task Force conducted 232 investigations where they identified 207 survivors and 75 potential traffickers, according to task force data.
“We work closely with a lot of different resources and collaborate with our other local agencies because [they] make human trafficking a high priority crime. We collaborate with nonprofits and advocates at the District Attorney’s and Public Defender’s Office to try and get resources for survivors to get out of that lifestyle,” Gowing said.
Rita McGaw, the task force coordinator at the District Attorney’s Office, said the 2016 grant allowed for an enhanced collaborative model to combat human trafficking. In 2014, she said, the District Attorney’s Office launched a community needs assessment, which identified human trafficking as a county issue and pushed for a task force.
“It’s a lot of collaborative efforts. I don’t think one entity has all the answers or capabilities. It is hugely important to work with our partners who each have different skill sets,” McGaw said. “Our county is working to arrest people as well as help survivors.”
Services can be anything from housing to therapeutic interventions specific to a survivor’s trauma, as well as getting a trafficker-branded tattoo removed, she continued.
“Oftentimes law enforcement and victim service providers struggle to work together and see through that line, but we have excelled in that area and collaborate every day. I think that this is one of the reasons our task force has been so successful,” McGaw said.
People can call the Sheriff’s Office anonymous tip line at (805) 681-4171 if they suspect someone is a victim of human trafficking, or provide an anonymous tip online at sbsheriff.org/home/anonymous-tip/.
This article appears in Feb 24 – Mar 3, 2022.