Missouri leaders are reviewing the impact of anti-human trafficking efforts during this summer's FIFA World Cup in Kansas City.
Attorney General Catherine Hanaway says the campaign may have helped prevent a surge in trafficking cases.
“I think we can point to a lot of success and we've only made 10 arrests, which is not like a big surge," Hanaway says. "And we were anticipating a fairly big surge with the World Cup. So, I think our efforts to prevent human trafficking really had an impact.”
Hanaway says only 10 trafficking-related arrests were made, despite concerns the international event could bring a much larger spike in criminal activity.
“We still have to coordinate with all those police departments and sheriff's departments to see if they had a surge that we haven't seen," Hanaway explains. "But in my conversations with the Jackson County prosecutor, she confirmed that they did not see a surge in the request for warrants or arrests.”
Hanaway says Missouri partnered with the anti-trafficking organization It's a Penalty ahead of the World Cup to raise awareness and encourage reporting of suspected trafficking. She says the state's Simply Report app remains available for people to report suspected trafficking and seek help.
Missourinet