City of Carlsbad joins statewide effort against human trafficking – Carlsbad Current Argus

The New Mexico Attorney General's office welcomed participation of the Carlsbad Police Department in a statewide task force to combat human trafficking.

Carlsbad City Councilor's approved a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Attorney General's office on June 14 which would include the Carlsbad Police in the New Mexico Human Trafficking Task Force (NMHTTF).

“One of the major hurdles in human trafficking investigations is identifying victims and survivors of human trafficking.  Local law enforcement agencies, such as the Carlsbad Police Department, are a key component to a successful taskforce as their ability to identify potential victims and subsequent referrals to service providers is essential in a victim centered approach to human trafficking investigations and the recovery of victims,” said Jerri Mares, Attorney General's office spokesperson.

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Created in 2008, the task force was a grant subsidized multi-agency endeavor funded by the U.S. Department of Justice designed to form collaborative approaches to fight all forms of human trafficking, read the MOU.

Carlsbad Police Chief Shane Skinner recommended passage of the MOU in a separate memorandum written to the City Council, saying the department and city had benefitted in past agreements on statewide task forces.

“This MOU gives the Carlsbad Police Department the ability to continue its widespread cooperation and ability to bring strong and fair prosecution to offenders who commit such crimes,” Skinner said.

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Mares said one of the objectives of the NMHTTF was to obtain more comprehensive statistical data from across New Mexico.

“Our office remains concerned that the (New Mexico) Legislature has not secured funding for a uniform trafficking database that can be used across agencies,” she said.

“Some of the challenges of underreporting stem from the inability of law enforcement and service providers to identify local trafficking offenses, lack of law enforcement training and a reluctance by victims to share information on their traffickers, making it difficult to separate human trafficking from other offenses such as prostitution,” Mares said.

Since 2020, the Attorney General's Human Trafficking Unit investigated 62 cases which resulted in 31 convictions via the Internet Crimes Against Child law, read New Mexico Attorney General's Office data.

Mares said the NMHTTF investigated 82 trafficking cases across New Mexico in the past two years with 269 victims identified to service providers.

Fourteen individuals were found guilty, pleaded guilty or accepted plea agreements for human trafficking charges, according to Mares.

Skinner outlined the Carlsbad Police Department's commitment to task force participation, including training coordination and cross-training of task force members and identify victims of all types of human trafficking, per his memo to City Council.

“The NMHTTF is dependent on the involvement and participation of local agencies and having their knowledge and expertise in their unique jurisdictions provides more effective and efficient law enforcement investigations,” Mares said.

“By combining resources, task force members provide a more robust and effective team that leads to high quality investigations and successful recovery of human trafficking survivors,” she said.

Mike Smith can be reached at 575-628-5546 or by email at [email protected] or @ArgusMichae on Twitter.