This month’s Cover Story is a bit different and is on a serious subject: Human Trafficking. Many may think that human trafficing is limited to the large cities in the United States and throughout the world, but that is not the case. As this Cover Story indicates, human trafficking takes many forms and can also take place in rural areas like Garrett County. We are fortunate to have people like Swanton resident Mark Clookie and his team working to prevent human trafficking in all its forms. This article covers their efforts and can inform our readers about this different type of “pandemic.” We thank Mark, his partner Kristen Harris and the rest of their team as then seek to prevent trafficking.
DEEP CREEK LAKE AREA RESIDENT COMBATS HUMAN TRAFFICING
A 40 year law enforcement veteran working with a colleague in Portland, Oregon has launched a nation-wide non-profit organization to combat human trafficking in the U.S. Swanton resident, Mark Clookie, served for 33 years as a sworn law enforcement officer, retiring as the Director of the U.S. Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) in 2013. Since then Mark worked as the Vice President for Investigations and Law Enforcement Development at the International Justice Mission (IJM), the world’s largest anti-slavery organization, and as a consultant and board member for other nonprofits combating human exploitation. He currently serves our community as an officer of the Deep Creek Volunteer Fire Company in McHenry, and as a member of the Southern Garrett County Rescue Squad.
Mr. Clookie explained that while working at IJM headquarters in Arlington, VA, he and a colleague, Ms. Kristen Harris, a former Criminal Analyst for the FBI, hatched the idea for a “first of its kind” effort to prevent human trafficking. After much consideration and planning they co-founded and recently launched “Prevention Now”, a 501(C)3 nonprofit organization. Mr. Clookie explained that after nearly a half century of combined law enforcement experience, he and Ms. Harris had grown frustrated with “responding to crimes after the fact; there must be a way to better protect vulnerable members of society and to prevent them from ever becoming victims in the first place”.
According to Mr. Clookie, most people do not fully understand the extent and impact of human trafficking. “Human beings are being bought, sold, traded and exploited for any number of purposes from sexual slavery to organ harvesting.” He went on to explain that no community is free from human trafficking. “It is not just an issue for large urban areas, but can be found in rural, small towns and communities as well. Often, trafficking in more rural environments involves the sale of children by their own parents to support the parent’s drug habits.”
As of 2014, the International Labour Organization (ILO) estimated that just the forced labor aspect of human trafficking generates $150 billion in profits annually. According to the ILO there are over 21 million victims trapped in modern day slavery. Regarding national statistics, Mr. Clookie advised, “some estimate there are hundreds of thousands of victims in the U.S. alone.” Mr. Clookie expressed great appreciation for the hundreds of organizations currently fighting human trafficking in the U.S., but explained these organizations are often working independently and, by nature, are locally focused. He went on to explain that human trafficking can take many forms ranging from isolated, local activity to large scale transient criminal enterprises and everything in between.
Mr. Clookie related, “Prevention Now will leverage data to identify root causes of human trafficking as well as who is most at risk of becoming a victim. The data used to inform the process will come from multiple local, state and national entities including information on criminal trends, trafficking, income, race, age, state policies, child welfare and juvenile services. We have begun to collaborate with a broad spectrum of partners to include: other nonprofits, law enforcement, government agencies, educators, clergy, counselors and the like, to gather this information. Once this material is gathered, we will leverage cutting edge technology such as: machine learning, artificial intelligence, and predictive analytics to determine who is most at risk and what actions can be taken by us and our partners to prevent future victimization. What could be better than preventing a vulnerable child or adult from ever being victimized in the first place?”
“Prevention Now is the first anti-trafficking nonprofit to use technology to this extent in focusing on proactive, data driven solutions. We are anxious to share information and solution sets with our partners to help them as they provide direct services to survivors and those at risk of becoming victims. It should be noted that although our focus will be on preventing victimization, our model will also quite naturally support efforts to reduce demand and apprehend traffickers.”
As a new nonprofit, Prevention Now’s greatest need is financial support. If you wish to provide a tax deductible donation or want to learn more about their work, please visit: www.prevention-now.org.