Interviews with human trafficking investigators and support workers

Consistent with the National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking (2019-2024), and to enhance Chapter 3 from the 2015 Handbook for Criminal Justice Practitioners on Trafficking in Persons, the principal investigator conducted interviews with 31 law enforcement agents and specialists from across Canada. All participants had extensive hands-on experience with human-trafficking cases and investigations. Both in-person and virtual interviews occurred between April and July 2022, and three participants were re-contacted to clarify or expand on discussion points. None of the participants are identified in this report to protect privacy. Police and associated personnel from the following services shared their perspectives: Calgary Police Service, Hamilton-Wentworth Police Service, Windsor Police Service, Ottawa Police Service, Belleville Police Service, Halifax Regional Police Service, Ontario Provincial Police, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, York Regional Police Service, Nova Scotia Police Service, Service de Police de la Ville de Montréal, Vancouver Police, and Durham Regional Police Service. Some interviews led to follow-up conversations with external experts recommended by interviewees, such as with a human-trafficking detective in Idaho, a trauma counsellor in Ottawa, and a private open-source security agency in Toronto.

The interview format was semi-structured, and focused on five key themes: (a) general insight and experience, (b) investigative techniques, (c) trauma-informed approaches, (d) response protocols, and (e) emerging trends (see Appendix A for the full list of interview questions).

When we asked Canada’s leading investigators, they were clear: “Today everyone wants to work on human trafficking, until it is time to do human trafficking things.” They felt this job is not for everyone. Overwhelmingly the job involves exploited women in the sex trade, and human trafficking is demanding to investigate because public perceptions and police mandates have evolved drastically over the past decade. Police officers reported that they must increasingly try to fix the problem and not just assign the blame. In this context, fixing the problem involves addressing the needs of the victim as opposed to using the law on the books to assign blame.

The traditional crime control model operated on the premise that officials can accurately identify the current state of both the criminal law and social values. When a gap between the two was observed, laws were adjusted to conform to the desired state. Unfortunately, this ignores how challenging it is to agree on standards or the most suitable method for closing any perceived gaps (e.g., gun laws, drug legalization, mandatory sentencing). In this crime control model, the rights of victims and offenders were frequently ignored in favour of calculated processes. After the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, there has been a shift toward models that consider the best interest of individuals and not just processes (Shiner, 2009).

Participants maintained that having a successful human-trafficking unit starts with the meticulous selection of police officers with the necessary soft skills (e.g., empathy, ability to engage in conversation), sheepdog instincts, as well as a solid foundation in investigation. The sheepdog or protector role comes naturally to most officers, but the investigative function has pivoted from a time when success was measured by a courtroom scorecard to a modern focus on harm reduction and disruption. Empathy is the final key characteristic, and this is difficult to teach. If officers are preconditioned to see victims as criminals and lack exceptional rapport-building skills, they may not be suitable for this role. The victims that need help have experienced considerable trauma, and some have endured nightmarish experiences at the hands of traffickers. These victims, however, do have refined survival skills–their lives depend on it–and participants have found that an investigator who is not perceived as completely sincere is likely to be perceived as manipulative.

The trauma-informed approach is a new way for investigators to approach their cases, and this often means being victim-centered. According to participants, traditional criminal justice responses–the very same approach one might currently use for processing a drug case–are now considered outdated, inappropriate, or even counterproductive to a trafficked victim’s emotional and physical well-being.

All participants had received some form of specialized trauma training, and all considered it critical when it came to accepting the scientific effects of trauma: muddy statements, fragmented recall, apparent contradictions, and so forth. All the participants recognized that a victim’s neurochemistry can be altered by trauma, that such alterations can cause the mind to behave differently, and that standard investigative approaches run the risk of inflicting additional harm.

Participants were asked which interview technique they started with when meeting a client for the first time, and they overwhelming gave the same answer: “None.” Participants stated that few victims self-identify, so the first human-trafficking contact may be in the form of a wellness check. All participants believed that “getting a victim out” after one interaction is as likely as to seeing a unicorn. A win for most investigators is simply having a conversation. Participants recommend that officers approach victims in a matter-of-fact yet supportive manner, avoiding either being overly nurturing or authoritarian while letting them know they are not alone, that their team has helped other victims, and that there is a better future for them. Participants suggested that if police investigators are very good at building rapport and trust, this might lead to further conversations and perhaps to the victim being receptive to assistance and support services, though they cautioned that this might take years. According to participants, a small percentage of victims will also want an opportunity to seek justice through the courts, and whether charges are laid is their decision, but none of this is possible without a foundation of trust.

Participants recommended that officers do their homework before they meet victims by “knowing the players,” being aware of who has gone missing, etc. When officers do make contact, participants recommended that investigators make it clear that helping the victim takes priority over prosecuting the perpetrator. Investigators were advised to provide wrap-around service and give victims control. Officers should conduct a brief preliminary interview to establish whether the victim is alone, whether there is a crime scene, whether anyone’s safety is in jeopardy, and whether a suspect is still in the vicinity. Most participants and their colleagues dress very casually, share their food to build rapport, stay clear of police buildings, and use translation apps on their cellular telephones to overcome basic language issues.

At an appropriate time, officers may try to take a statement, and most participants loosely base this on the cognitive interview technique. Participants recommend not being distracted by gaps and apparent contradictions in victims’ stories or fragmented memories. This may be the result of trauma or other variables. Participants try to fill the gaps by cross-checking and corroborating evidence from other victims as well as traditional and digital forensic information. Participants suggest avoiding posing standard peripheral questions that might make a trafficked victim feel guilty about not remembering or risk triggering an emotional reaction. Participants suggest never confronting a victim with statements such as “You’re absolutely wrong!” Instead, try to clarify apparent contradictions during a subsequent wellness check. One participant recommended giving these clients very simple options, with the best option presented last because stress and trauma may allow them to only process the last option. Three participants commented that after an officer has adapted their approach to dealing with trauma, it can be humbling to go back to old cases and review previous responses and investigations.

Cellular telephone numbers (and, increasingly, facial identification) can be harvested to provide an abundance of intelligence. The collection and sorting of evidence-based data is specialized work that is ideally tackled by crime analysts and open-source specialists who can identify red flags on social media and even discern an exploited individual from an independent sexual-service provider. Crime analysts can geo-code, create data points on victims/traffickers, and show patterns with the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada. Analytics are more reliable than hunches and data is key. Digital evidence-based investigations also generate the type of information politicians and decision-makers need to validate resources and bring social exposure to this problem.

Participants strongly suggested that traditional investigative approaches will produce fewer desirable results. Generally, trafficked victims do not trust the police. The psychological bond trauma creates is powerful and the factors that pushed a victim out of one lifestyle and into another are not easily resolved. Gender, culture, language, the COVID-19 pandemic, highly publicized police misconduct cases (e.g., the murder of George Floyd or elements of the Colten Boushie shooting investigation), and the fact that traffickers have no intention of losing their “assets”–some of whom they brand–all conspire to make it difficult for police officers to disrupt human trafficking and support victims.

Participants agreed traffickers do not respect arbitrary geographic borders and that partnerships are key. Police working on their own will not have the same impact as a team of different types of professionals working together. Participants believed an effective human-trafficking team is one that engages local resources, such as victim services, shelters, specially funded community projects, Canada Border Services Agency, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, and other law enforcement agencies to compound their ability to disrupt trafficking. Each agency brings specialized knowledge and databases to bear to address the problem. Police need partners who are reliable and available outside of business hours. Investigators need to be prepared to navigate and connect a victim to the right resources. One participant summed up the situation with the adage “it takes a village.” Participants advised being strategic in choosing partners and warned that some agencies have ulterior motives and may even inflate problems to justify funding or their existence.

An unconventional but promising practice that some of the participants discussed was embedding a former human-trafficking victim with an outreach team. These are victims who were trafficked and now share their wisdom with exploited victims. The connection can be profound. During the June 2022 Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) Conference on Human Trafficking in Toronto, Ontario, some delegates argued that embedded victims allow current victims the chance to speak with someone who has been in the same situation. This approach must be weighed against the risk of inflicting new harm or adding stress to these unique counsellors (for instance, recovered drug users have been known to return to addiction when volunteering at safe injection sites in Canada). Participants were nonetheless confident that embedded victims have thus far proven effective at helping young female victims who are being groomed or who have been already exploited to grasp the dangers and consider other options.

Embedded victims can connect at a different level, whether by training officers or in one-on-one sessions with overwhelmed victims, by reducing some of the stigma associated with police and better managing cultural and language barriers. Participants advised that embedded victims must be seen as just one piece of a larger community-based team and that relationship-building should go beyond community service groups and police services to include passive relationships with Uber drivers, taxi companies, schoolteachers, and hotel workers, who are not asked to report crimes, but only “What is different?” Participants recommended officers know the areas they police: A good investigator may see connections others have missed. At the same time, a good human-trafficking team can accomplish far more.

The stakes are very high. Internationally, human trafficking is comparable in terms of profits only to the trade in illegal drugs and weapons. The recipe for a good investigator starts with getting the right people, those who will begin with compassion and end in conducting a robust investigation.