City of Mountain Brook ‘sets the pace’ in raising awareness of human trafficking

The Mountain Brook City Council voted in December to make the city a Trafficking Free Zone, a program created by the U.S. Institute Against Human Trafficking (USIAHT) to educate community members on sex trafficking.

At the time, Mountain Brook was the only second city in Alabama to issue such a proclamation.

“The City of Mountain Brook takes this issue very seriously,” Mayor Stewart Welch said.

Since then, the city has “set the pace” for other municipalities by training all city staffers in awareness of trafficking and implementing a zero-tolerance policy for sex trafficking and sex buying in its human resources handbook, according to a recent USIAHT news release.

“To date, over 240 city employees have completed USIAHT’s online training program to ensure that workers understand how to identify potential victims and traffickers,” said Stephanie Costolo, national program manager of the TraffickingFree Zone program.

In Alabama, the USIAHT partners with the Child Trafficking Solutions Project (CTSP), a coalition of law enforcement, child protective services, anti-trafficking groups and others that is coordinated through the Children’s Policy Cooperative of Jefferson County.

Jack Bankston, the city’s revenue examiner, has completed the awareness course for city employees.

”I was surprised that sex trafficking was so prevalent,” he said in the CTSP news release. “I didn’t know that it involves all genders and all age groups.”

“I was particularly struck by learning that human trafficking occurs in all communities, to both men and women,” said Marylyn Eubank, information technology manager for O’Neal Library. “I now know how to be aware of my surroundings and to speak up if I see something.”

To learn more, go to usiaht.org or to Facebook @ChildTraffickingSolutionsProject.