SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The Illinois State Police (ISP) Division of Criminal Investigation Trafficking Enforcement Bureau, in partnership with the Texas Department of Public Safety, provided Interdiction for the Protection of Children (IPC) training this week for front-line officers to recognize signs a child may be a victim, at-risk of victimization, or missing.  

“Human trafficking survivors are often children and vulnerable to exploitation or other victimization,” said ISP Director Brendan F. Kelly.  “The Interdiction for the Protection of Children specialized training gives our officers the tools they need to identify at-risk and exploited children, and bring those committing these heinous crimes to justice.”

Officers are well trained and highly proficient in making observations of suspicious behaviors, leading to arrests and successful interdiction of illicit drug, weapon, and currency.  The IPC program builds on those skills and trains officers to identify and rescue endangered or exploited children, and recognize indicators of those who pose a high-risk threat to children.  

Law enforcement agencies, the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), and child advocacy centers (CAC), attended the training, which uses a victim-centered approach to protect children and a proactive approach to identifying those who offend against children.

“Responding with an informed, caring and healing centered approach to the trauma that our children who have experienced human trafficking may be facing is of upmost importance to our team,” said DCFS Director, Heidi E. Mueller.  “We are proud to be partnering with the ISP, CACs and local law enforcement to learn what we need to do to help our children and provide them with the necessary resources they need to recover and begin healing.”

IPC training covers understanding victim and offender dynamics, legal obligations, authority, working with children, understanding indicators of trafficking and smuggling children, information sharing, identifying local, state, and federal resources, working with multi-disciplinary teams, social services, and non-governmental organizations.  IPC uses a multi-disciplinary approach to training by including local, state, and federal governmental and non-governmental organizations as partners during training and operations.

A total of  nine local law enforcement officers, 62 DCFS employees, 31 child advocates, and 86 ISP officers successfully completed the two-day basic course, followed by a three-day train-the-trainer IPC course, and will provide this training statewide to additional personnel across these agencies.

Human trafficking is the use of force, fraud, or coercion to compel a person into commercial sex acts, labor, or services against their will.  ISP continues its multifaceted approach toward protecting those most vulnerable with its ongoing statewide human trafficking enforcement operations.  The signs of human trafficking can be subtle; to learn more, please visit Recognizing the Signs | National Human Trafficking Hotline. 

If you suspect human trafficking, contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888 or text 233733.  For more information visit www.humantraffickinghotline.org.  You can also email ISP.CrimeTips@illinois.gov.