Police to implement human trafficking awareness banners

The North Bay Police Service is in the planning stages of releasing an advertising campaign that will be focused on human trafficking awareness.

“We have worked with this over the last couple of years about human trafficking and the concerns that we have for our community,” stated Mike Daze, deputy chief of the North Bay Police Service.

“It is happening right across Ontario, it is happening right across Canada. It is something that we are not immune to here.”

The North Bay Police recently announced they will be creating a campaign that will include Human Trafficking messaging on City of North Bay buses.

Daze believes creating that awareness is important.

“We have people that are going to come into town and see who they can recruit and bring into that horrendous world,” said Daze.

He believes it will take a community effort to combat the issue of human trafficking.

“It is something that we can engage with as a police service but we need the members in our communities when they recognize and see things that make them suspicious to not turn that blind eye,” he said.

“It's okay to send in that information and contact us. We can do those investigations, do some research, and see what is happening and we never know when the smallest bit of information is helping save a victim and that is really what we are trying to do.”

See related: Human trafficking in the hospitality industry

See related: Local police doing more to identify human trafficking

Another separate human trafficking awareness campaign will target local hotels and motels.  However, Daze believes human trafficking-related abductions can happen anywhere at any time.

“I think we have to be cautious to say we have got these geographic or specific locations where it happens,” noted Daze.

“I do not think we are insulated from this sort of predatory behaviour anywhere and I think that the more information and education that we have out there the better. I think this is just something that we have to be acutely aware of wherever we go now.”