Kidnapping in the Human Trafficking Landfill

When you think of human trafficking the first thing that pops into your mind is missing children. These were the initial thoughts from individuals surveyed in Panama City. Most do not realize child trafficking, or what we used to remember as kidnapping is only one segment in a mountainous criminal hierarchy. Human trafficking is a disastrous conglomeration of 25 forms of trafficking all piled into one big landfill. Each of those categories has even further subcategories, until we finally reach down to child abduction. Per the US State Department, “Human trafficking occurs when a trafficker uses force, fraud, or coercion to compel another person to work or engage in a commercial sex act.” Have you ever coerced your husband to go wheel the garbage can down the driveway to the curb, if so you may be a human trafficker.

The second term, “Modern Day Slavery” encompasses everything from kid smugglers, Russian Go-Go dancers, prostitution, cartel controlled border crossings, children unwillingly forced to visit grandmas house, and what Barrack Obama stated in 2015 as migrant workers. So when the mainstream media tells you that human trafficking is an epidemic, well you better believe it. Another suspicious thing these all have in common besides the government adding a third term to the mess, “Trafficking in Persons”, is that all these crimes go on, tax free. The government has created a win-win-win situation in where they create the problem (fear & open borders), reap the rewards of enforcement fines, and then bask in the sun as the hero, returning the victims to safety. In the state of Nevada where brothels are still legal in some jurisdictions, we have reported higher rates of human trafficking. Is this because the wide open business more easily attracts the unholy, or is it because these tax regulated scenarios no longer warrant the eye of the law. Human trafficking is the furthest thing from the no-twist zone without even mentioning money hungry donation organizations or the gray area surrounding willing victim/trafficker relationships.

Moving on, a little back in time, and down the hill towards child trafficking we have some records of what the old government used to tell us before congealing everything into the title of Human Trafficking. The United States Department of Justice:

“According to a 2002 federal study on missing children, 99.8 percent of children reported missing were located or returned home alive. The study estimated that most of missing children cases involved runaways from juvenile facilities and that only an estimated 0.0068 percent were true kidnappings by a stranger. The primary conclusion of the study was that child abductions perpetrated by strangers rarely occur.”

In 1984 NISMART was created (National Incidence Studies of Missing Abducted Runaway and Thrownaway Children). Its purpose was, “An effort to improve the measurement of and available information on the size, scope, and nature of key aspects of the nation's missing children problem, as reported to law enforcement.” There have been four NISMART reports created to date, the newest as of 2019. If you follow the studies we find some shocking information. NISMART-3 in 2011 discovered the number of missing children in American basically dropped in half once 7-12 year old children were given cell phones. This is because there are numerous more benign reasons children are reported missing, and rarely a follow up. Smart phones also turn out to be a double edged sword. Laurie Lawrence, PhD Florida State University explains, “Parents are worried about the windowless white van on the corner, but don’t realize they are putting that van in that child's hand everyday.” Technology helps but also creates the opening for a trafficker to befriend your child through various apps. The 2019 NISMART-4 report shows national estimates that are simply mind blowing. “The number of stereotypically (randomly) kidnapped children in the year from January 1, 2019, to December 31, 2019, likely fell between 52 and 306.” Its shocking to see such a low national number but keep in mind, this is specifically random stranger danger, once a victim relates to a trafficker (known friend, family, babysitter, etc.) the numbers explode to around 58,000. Even so, it appears that if you monitor your child’s activity online and known interactions offline, a random child abduction occurring to your child in America, is almost statistically impossible.

BAY COUNTY - The mainstream media has berated you with broadcasts describing the epidemic of human trafficking. The yearly human trafficking sting operations held in Bay County are basically FBI & HSI “Honey Trap” operations, which do not involve any children at all. The approach is very similar to an episode of “To Catch a Criminal”, with Chris Hansen. Law enforcement establishes fake online social media accounts, pretends to be girls that want sex, then wait to see who shows up. This is more of a proactive style approach stopping the criminal before he or she goes out and buys a white van. None the less you have to give the Bay County Sheriff’s Office a lot of credit. The more crime you keep off the streets, the less crime there is to find, allowing them a step ahead in the game. The highly noticeable patrols between PC and PCB are also a welcome site for concerned parents. One can only travel a few blocks before spotting the iconic green and white vehicles. Local area government wouldn’t likely let children walk 2 miles to school without bussing if street side child abductions were actually occurring here.

We have to question everything and remember that hardly any news channel offers good follow up reporting on topics, its always on to the next story. For liability and distortion reasons they keep targeted facts and details out to advance the larger federal fear narrative and increase views. They don’t want you knowing the full story of how a random child abduction is only a tiny fraction of a human trafficking, so why not lump them all together.

Corporal Amy Burnette with the Bay County Sheriff’s Office summed it up this way, “Local law enforcement has seen that the majority of child trafficking is familial trafficking related.” As compared to stereotypical child trafficking, familial means the trafficker is is part of, or considered a family member. Local law enforcement and University Professors also agree that social media is the next biggest access point to the criminal traffickers reaching your children. So the next time you hear someone say human trafficking, be sure to clarify the specifics before picturing kids in cages and unmarked vans outside Walmart. Be close to your children and worry less everyone, knowing is half the battle.

For up to date statistic searches and alerts pertaining to Active Missing Children in Bay County, follow this link: https://www.fdle.state.fl.us/MCICSearch/Search.asp

The Bay County Sheriff’s Office recommends learning from this documentary which gives parents a perspective from the criminal traffickers point of view: “Abducted in Plain Site”, 2017, Netflix Documentary. https://www.netflix.com/title/81000864

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