Agenda: 2023 Human Trafficking Prevention Training

8 a.m. - Training Sign-in

8:50 a.m. - Welcome, Video Introductions and Message from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton

9:15 a.m. - Human Trafficking Social Media Trends - This session will discuss online recruitment methods and ways traffickers use social media to recruit, traffic, and exploit their victims. Traffickers are increasingly finding vulnerable people online and luring them to become victims by offerings or promises.

10 a.m. - Break (15 minutes)

10:15 a.m. - Financial Investigations for Illicit Massage Business and Human Trafficking-This training will describe financial investigative techniques beneficial to sex and labor trafficking investigations. Instruction will cover where to find evidence within financial records and how to identify suspicious transactions. The instructors will review modern money laundering trends using human trafficking case studies. The training will include a description of which bank records to subpoena and best practices regarding how to analyze them for use at trial.

11 a.m. – Break (15 minutes)

11:15 a.m. - Alternate Routes to Accountability: Civil Legal Remedies and More - In some trafficking situations, pursuing a criminal case is not the best option. In those cases, prosecutors should consider the civil remedies available within the Texas legal framework. Topics will include a variety of alternatives to criminal prosecution including: Civil Human Trafficking suits under 140A Tex. Civ. P. Rem. Code, Landlord Engagement Programs, nuisance abatement suits, and DTPA actions.

Noon - Lunch on your own

1:10 p.m. Please be in your seat and ready to start at 1:15p.m.

1:15 p.m. - Challenges When Investigating a Human Trafficking Case - Human trafficking investigations are often challenging and complex in nature for many reasons. Knowing the challenges that an investigator may face during the investigation allows investigators to be better equipped to overcome them. This course discusses challenges derived from victims, lack of evidence, and overcoming public stereotypes as related to victims of trafficking. This course provides tips and strategies to help circumvent the challenges of proving a case with little to no cooperation from the victim. We look at different techniques for interviewing adult and minor victims and how to overcome some of the obstacles investigators may face with the interviews. We cover what evidence can support your case and the challenges of finding sufficient evidence.

2:15 p.m. - Break (15 minutes)

2:30 p.m. - Victim Centered and Trauma Informed Response to Human Trafficking This training will describe the balance between a criminal investigation and conducting a victim center and trauma informed response to a sex and labor trafficking investigation. Instruction will cover issues with that may occur with victim recovery and methods used to continue the investigation. The instruction will review victim center and trauma informed response to human trafficking using sex and labor trafficking case studies.

3:30 p.m. - Break (15 minutes)

3:45 p.m. - Trial This training will cover human trafficking trials. First, there will be a discussion of trial preparation. Next, likely legal issues and key rules of evidence/procedure will be discussed. The training will end with a discussion of trial strategies and tactics.

5 p.m. Training Adjourns