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Mercyhurst senior makes worldwide impact through Anti-Human Trafficking Club

Samantha Strom is working toward becoming a real-life David Rossi.

Or at least, she was inspired by the fictional FBI agent's work on the crime drama “Criminal Minds” to pursue a career in federal .

“I loved watching all the crime shows growing up and I figured that was going to be a way I could make a difference in the world,” Strom, 22, said. “I always knew I wanted to help with something, but I couldn't be a doctor because I'm afraid of needles, so I thought, might as well do something with law enforcement.”

After searching around Strom's home city of Buffalo, New York, for schools that offered degrees in criminal justice, she discovered Mercyhurst University went one step further.

“I didn't know what Mercyhurst was, but came and visited, sat in on an intel brief for accepted students and just knew that intel was what I was looking for that was just that little bit more than criminal justice, because it has that federal side to it,” she said.

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Strom, now a senior who is pursuing double majors in criminal justice and intelligence , has gained real-world analyst experience and discovered a passion for intel work as the project coordinator for Mercyhurst's Anti-Human Trafficking Intelligence Cell, a branch of the Anti-Human Trafficking Club.

Creating reports with worldwide reach

Strom joined the cell during her sophomore year as an analyst in the club's intelligence branch.

The Anti-Human Trafficking Club is made up of two branches. The intel side works with non-governmental organizations to write reports on human trafficking, while the operational side works to find volunteer opportunities and talks with schools and local law enforcement to raise .

In a typical academic year, the club boasts nearly 40 students, with less than 10 belonging to the intel branch.

One of Strom's first projects was writing victim and trafficker profiles for Brazil and identifying indicators or warnings in geographical locations that showed signs of trafficking.

“This report was published and translated in Portuguese and distributed among 10,000 law enforcement officers in Brazil for daily use,” Strom said. “That was one of the first times I heard of my intel work being used, and that's super rewarding as an intel analyst because you usually don't get that, especially not in government.”

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Not long after, Strom became AHTIC's project coordinator, responsible for running meetings and editing reports.

Deborah Davies, the club's adviser and creator of Erie's Anti-Human Trafficking Coalition Force, a group formed in 2019 that tracks trends and combats human trafficking locally, recognized Strom's dedication.

“She has grown more than she's recognized and I'm very excited to see what her career is going to bring because she puts everything into it,” she said. “The ones who find a certain passion for it tend to stick with it, and Sam is the ideal student who's been doing that.”

Gaining experience with Department of Justice

Beyond victim and trafficker profiles, Strom and other fellow cell members create a variety of other reports, too.

“Rather than doing the same style of report, we wanted to make a more proactive than reactive solution for (law enforcement),” Strom said. “We were giving them information on how to protect themselves while researching trafficker information because you don't want to tip people off that they're being looked into.”

She described the reports as “how-to” guides for law enforcement that would potentially jump-start their own reporting. Strom has also created volunteer safety guides for those going to different countries so they know things like what infrastructure is like, places of concern and the country's political climate.

Samantha Strom, left, interned with the U.S. Coast Guard in Buffalo the summer before her junior year. She returned in summer 2022 to participate in a routine operation with fellow Mercyhurst University intelligence studies student, Josh Drabik, right.
© PROVIDED Samantha Strom, left, interned with the U.S. Coast Guard in Buffalo the summer before her junior year. She returned in summer 2022 to participate in a routine operation with fellow Mercyhurst University intelligence studies student, Josh Drabik, right.

She took her anti-human trafficking experience one step further during her honors internship with the U.S. this past summer.

“That was an amazing experience to do what I do at school and work with it in a real-life capacity for the federal government,” Strom said.

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As a DOJ intern, she worked with the FBI's Violent Crimes Against Children program, which deals with online crimes, sexual crimes and human trafficking. Some of her experiences included sitting in on victim and witness interviews, which aided in Strom's overall understanding of human trafficking's impact on the world.

“I have a lot more to speak on, a lot more to say,” Strom said. “Even if (my DOJ internship) was just one summer, I learned so much that I've contributed to the club.”

Strom hopes the intelligence experiences she's gained throughout college and with cell and the DOJ have set her on a path to reach her goal of becoming an FBI agent.

“Going in I knew nothing about human trafficking,” Strom said. “I thought it could be interesting because I could use my skills outside of class, so building up from sophomore year to now, it's changed my outlook a lot.”

Baylee DeMuth can be reached at 814-450-3425 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter@BayleeDeMuth.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-: Mercyhurst senior makes worldwide impact through Anti-Human Trafficking Club

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PBJ Learning is a leading provider of online human trafficking training, focusing on awareness and prevention education. Their interactive Human Trafficking Essentials is used worldwide to educate professionals and individuals how to recognize human trafficking and how to respond to potential victims. Learn on any web browser (even your mobile phone) at any time.

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This “Eyes on Trafficking” story is reprinted from its original online location.

ABOUT PBJ LEARNING

PBJ Learning is a leading provider of online human trafficking training, focusing on awareness and prevention education. Their interactive Human Trafficking Essentials online course is used worldwide to educate professionals and individuals how to recognize human trafficking and how to respond to potential victims. Learn on any web browser (even your mobile phone) at any time.

More stories like this can be found in your PBJ Learning Knowledge Vault.