Powerful, Targeted & Engaged
To exploit people through forced labor or sex, traffickers need three things: vulnerable victims, willing buyers, and a judicial system that fails to follow through. Brushes with the law are rare, because victims view the system as ineffective at best, and each bad experience after outcry, a deportation, arrest, or return to an abusive foster home, fuels the silence of the remaining captives.
Traffickers weigh the low odds that they may be caught and punished against the lure of a guaranteed payday. Interactions with the justice system are tallied as “just another cost of doing business,” like rental cars, hygiene items, Internet ads, or third-party recruiter fees.
There is a gap, a missing piece, between the people receiving outcries and those responsible for the investigation and prosecution of traffickers. Victims are identified, their stories told, services offered and accepted, but those victims are not consistently connected to law enforcement specifically trained to handle the complex investigations and trauma-impacted victims.
No investigation means no arrest, no prosecution, no penalty, no change. Traffickers flourish. Victims languish. The justice system fails to consistently provide justice. Until now.
ICT provides on-location human trafficking training, investigation and prosecution assistance, as well as community-specific, anti-trafficking assessment and solutions. Led by Kirsta Leeburg Melton, a recognized human trafficking expert and 20-year prosecutor with a powerful record of bringing justice for victims, demanding system accountability, and teaching others to replicate those results, the Institute combines out-of-the-box thinking with demonstrated impact.
With ICT, under resourced police departments and prosecutors, who are overwhelmed by the sheer numbers on their dockets, can tackle human trafficking cases despite the challenges of traumatized victims, multi-jurisdictional conduct, layers of digital concealment, and lack of public understanding.
The Institute builds lasting capacity with every interaction. When deployed on location, the Institute creates community roadmaps for trafficking awareness and prevention, provides lead generation and case analysis, assistance in legal writing, jury selection, and case strategy as well as next level training – working hand in hand with investigators and prosecutors to tackle case problems as they arise during the investigation and trial.
It is one thing to look at a mountain and be told how to climb it. It is an entirely different thing to climb it with an experienced partner and guide accompanying you every step of the way.
It is time to engage. Fundamental freedoms are on the line. Do not hesitate to call for backup.
Challenges sharpen our creativity and strengthen our resolve.
We bring decades of trial success and targeted policy solutions to your community.
The ICT team will not stop until the work is done.
H.E. Luccock
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
In the old cowboy movies when all the shooting is done, and the dust clears, the hero rides off into the sunset alone. He came, stood for the town against the forces of greed, violence, and villainy and now he takes the lonely road to the next community in need of his brand of justice.
The world is hurting. 2020 has brought loss to each one of us, and while it has taken more than its fair share, it has left a gift of its own if we are wise enough to recognize it. It doesn’t come in glitzy paper, a sparkling bow, or designer bag. Think brown paper, corners coming untucked, a tear on the edge, and a smudged return address.