Trooper: human trafficking a scourge in rural Nebraska, too

An estimated 70 citizens from the area gathered at St. Patrick Parish Hall for an important presentation on human trafficking last week organized by Imperial Rotary.
Trooper Tim Flick, a 23-year veteran of the Nebraska State Patrol, gave an informative yet sobering talk April 27 on trafficking, focusing on rural communities in western Nebraska.
Flick said there is nothing new about human trafficking except its ever-changing techniques.
“Human trafficking amounts to ‘modern-day slavery’ even though Americans may think it was abolished in their own land after the Civil War of 1861-65,” he said.
With the help of slides, Flick described facts about trafficking and gave strategies in combating it.
Whether its victims are being coerced to perform sex acts or do manual labor, Flick said they are being subjected to forms of slavery that have never stopped since ancient times.
“It’s getting big—it’s a worldwide problem. We are not exempt from it in western Nebraska,” Flick said.
While Imperial and rural Nebraska may have less total trafficking than larger cities, Interstate 80 is definitely bringing traffickers and their victims into the area, he said.
“There are a number of situations occurring in McCook, and I assisted in breaking up a human trafficking ring in Ogallala. We also rescued a young trafficking victim in Grant. It’s everywhere,” Flick said.
There are two main sub-categories—sex trafficking and labor trafficking.
Another area human traffickers seek to fill is for domestic servitude.
Flick went on to explain that despite the strong focus on female and youth victims for sex trafficking, infants, younger adults and senior citizens can also be subjected to someone else’s abusive control.
“Traffickers’ more recent tactics include luring or capturing senior citizens whom they force to care for children they are forcing to work or have sex for profit,” said Flick.
Another category of victims that is growing in this country is young boys, he added.
Traffickers usually control young victims by addicting them to methamphetamines, he said.
“Rural Nebraska victims are easy targets because they trust people,” Flick said.
Young people are easy and preferred targets because they are easier to lure, and traffickers can keep them longer, so they are more profitable.
Flick described a wide range of situations that could make a person vulnerable to trafficking, such as being saddled with student debt, other financial hardships or facing a variety of life crises.
“Traffickers are adept at targeting, befriending and grooming vulnerable people, only to force them to do their bidding once they’ve isolated the victim from loved ones,” Flick said.
COVID has had an effect on creating victims because of isolation, depression, no interaction and loneliness.
“People, especially young people, reach out on social media,” he added.
Parents and other adults need to pay special attention to young people, Flick said, because they are prone to accept strangers as “friends” on social media with little question.
People of all ages can protect themselves by making their social media accounts private, shutting off location services on cell phones and apps and being wary of any solicitation by any means, Flick said.
“Cell phones are the scourge of society. They make child pornography so much more possible,” he said.
Cell phones are often to blame for destroyed connections between people.
“We’ve got to get away from them (cell phones) and care about each other again—interacting on a personal level,” said Flick.
“Once it’s on the internet, it doesn’t come off of the internet, ever,” he added.
Don’t ignore gut feelings
One example of a trafficker’s ploy was a situation that happened to Flick’s wife one night while traveling on a road near Lyons.
She called Flick to tell him she was being followed by a Crown Vic police vehicle with flashing lights on.
The car kept following her and repeatedly pulled up close behind and then fell back, occasionally pulling up along side her and backing off.
Flick told his wife they were trying to see if she was alone in the car.
He made a call to see if there were any legitimate officers working in the area and found there weren’t. Police were then sent  to intercept the vehicle.
“This could happen to anyone. The situation was deceiving,” he said.
It goes back to the old gut feeling, said Flick.
“If something just doesn’t seem right, it’s not right. If you’re ever debating whether you should or should not report something, report it,” he said.
Recognizing victims
Border towns are often frequented by traffickers because they are the easiest to leave the state quickly, said Flick.
Human trafficking is the most under-reported crime and the second highest profitable crime behind drug trafficking.
Human trafficking more than doubled between 2015 and 2019.
“The best weapon we have in our arsenal is knowledge—help stop human trafficking by learning about it—education,” Flick said.
Some signs to watch for to identify a trafficking victim are:
Being accompanied by a controlling person or boss; not speaking on own behalf
Lack of control over personal schedule, money, I.D., travel documents.
Transported to or from work; lives and works in the same place
Owes a debt to an employer/crew leader; inability to leave the job
Bruises, depression, fear, overly submissive
“The top request for investigations comes from citizens reporting tips,” Flick said.
“We’ve got to care about one another and be responsible by paying attention to people around us,” he said.
All Nebraskans are legally mandated to report to law enforcement when they fear someone is illegally exploiting another.
“Children are our future, and we need to protect them,” said Flick.
To learn more about human trafficking in Nebraska, go to the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services/Human Trafficking resources or https://humantraffickin ghotline.org.
People who are in trouble themselves or suspect someone else is can call 911 or any local law enforcement agency, text HELP to 233733 or call the 24-hour Human Trafficking Hotline at 888-373-7888.