Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond is part of a coalition to get the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to ensure that local law enforcement agencies are getting third-party tips from the National Human Trafficking Hotline. According to the coalition, the current vendor managing the hotline doesn’t always share information and when it does, it is not in a timely manner.
“Cooperation from the entity selected to run the National Human Trafficking Hotline is vital to our efforts to end the horror of human trafficking,” Drummond said. “Law enforcement agencies must be able to rely on timely reports from the hotline about suspicious activity that can lead to arrests. Urgency and timeliness are critical in this endeavor.”
HHS is seeking applications for its new funding award for the hotline. The award requires the entity to develop a plan to work with local law enforcement.
In a letter, the attorneys general ask HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., “As you consider applicants, we urge you to ensure that the organization that is awarded the grant for the National Human Trafficking Hotline demonstrates its commitment to being a partner to our offices and local law enforcement with timely reports of trafficking tips. We have worked hard to teach the public the signs of trafficking and how to report it when they think they see it. But sending the public to the hotline when they see someone in trouble is futile if the organization running it refuses to share those tips.”
The coalition is made up of 41 state and territory attorneys general.
