Central Minnesota Fights Sex Trafficking With Renewed Grant Efforts

The Central Minnesota human trafficking task force is hoping to get their grant renewed.  Stearns County Attorney Janelle Kendall joined me on WJON.  She says they've had 3 different grant cycles going from 2 full time cops to 3.  Kendall explains they have a pretty good case based on their past success in curtailing sex trafficking in the region.  She says they've been able to prove the robust cases of sex trafficking in the area and information they've obtained to find these individuals committing these crimes.

Timeline

Kendall says there is no clear timeline as to when they will know if that grant is renewed but she suspects that information will be known to them in either February or March.  She says the 3 law enforcement agencies that could be receiving the money are the St. Cloud Police Department, Sartell Police Department and Stearns County Sheriff's Department.  Kendall says this type of police work requires lots of experience and attention to detail.  She says these agencies won't stop doing this police work if the grant request isn't approved but it really helps that these officers are paid for by the grant.

Training Project

The statewide law enforcement training pilot project will take place in Sartell next week.  Every Wednesday morning the elected 87 county attorneys get together on a video conferencing call.  Kendall says a common frustration among county attorneys is a lack of training of relatively new police officers.  She says these officers need to learn skills like, how to testify, report writing, or child abuse complaints.  Kendall indicates it is really important that the initial responding officer knows how to handle these things.

Need for Officers

Kendall says between COVID-19 and George Floyd, they lost a lot of police officers in the field.  She says they are working to replenish those numbers.  Kendall indicates both St. Cloud and Waite Park police departments are looking for officers while both Sartell and the Stearns County Sheriff's Office are at full strength.  She says Police agencies are making it easier for individuals looking to transition into a different career to take on law enforcement.  At the event in Sartell next week they plan to pilot this program to local law enforcement to make sure all of the information is needed before taking it to the state level.

If you'd like to listen to my conversation with Janelle Kendall, click below.