Brazos Valley Human Trafficking Task Force provides update at it’s second meeting

BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) – On Tuesday the Brazos Valley Human Trafficking Task Force held its second meeting since its formation providing updates on what it’s been able to accomplish.

During the meeting, the task force welcomed aboard two new investigators who were hired by the Brazos County Sheriff’s Office. A presentation was also given by Unbound Now BCS Lead Advocate, Amaris Estep, and Texas DPS Bryan Criminal Investigations Division Lieutenant, Eric Walters who discussed Advocacy-Law Enforcement relations. The meeting was closed to the public, but those in attendance had the opportunity to ask questions.

Unbound Now BCS, Executive Director Amanda Buenger said the task force is excited about the introduction of its new investigators and it will allow them to be more offensive. A grant has allowed the task force to hire more investigators, staff and advocates.

“We want to get on top of this issue so instead of being reactive we’re going to start being proactive and really looking to identify victims and put a crackdown on traffickers,” Buenger said.

The task force is a combined effort between Unbound Now BCS and the Brazos County Sheriff’s Office designed to combat human trafficking throughout the Brazos Valley. The investigators will assist law enforcement agencies in Burleson, Grimes, Lee, Leon, Madison, Robertson, Walker and Washington Counties.

“It’s a multi-county effort and as you can see today there is representation from all over the region and we’re glad to have everybody here because if we work together we can be more effective,” Brazos County Sheriff, Wayne Dicky, said.

Buenger said many people don’t realize that there is human trafficking going on in the community.

“We know that it does and Unbound is serving survivors that are recovered right here in the Bryan College Station region and far out counties,” Buenger said. “The reason we have this task force is there are victims that need recovery right here in this community and we are providing services to those victims that are in recovery.”

Between the months of January and June of this year, 43 clients have been served. The task force also ran its first recovery operation a few months ago which was a success, Dicky said.

“We were attempting to identify and rescue victims, and that resulted in about six people being identified and referred to Unbound for additional services,” Dicky said.

As they move forward the task force will continue holding its quarterly meetings, with the next one planned for November.

“What it really does is bring all of our partners together at the same table,” Buenger said. “We can discuss what’s happening in our community, how we can work together on these cases, how we can do better with our prevention education and how we can provide survivor advocacy services and how we can really provide the best services for law enforcement.”