New billboards plastered all over Lubbock mark the latest attempt by advocacy groups to combat the escalating problem of human trafficking.
According to the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, the “Can you see me?” signs show people in common trafficking situations and ask citizens to get involved by reporting any potential cases to the National Human Trafficking Hotline.
“Human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery,” states the hotline’s website. “Traffickers control through fraud, force or coercion another person for the purpose of engaging in commercial sex acts or soliciting labor against a person’s will.”
With the billboards set to go up in more than 70 markets, reports are that there were at least 1,000 reported cases of human trafficking in Texas last year. As human trafficking continues to be an issue all over the globe, Lubbock Police Department Assistant Chief Neal Barron said that it is a problem they particularly work hard to root out here in Texas.
Barron recalled the story of one local repeat offender he said recently moved on to human trafficking at least partly because he thought it is a crime he could more easily get away with.
“It brings light to the fact that this type of crime occurs every day, even in our city,” Barron said.
Over the last decade, Barron said, the department has launched more than 60 investigations into human trafficking, with many of them still ongoing.
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