413047-Underground-Commercial-Sex-Economy

The involvement of gangs in pimping was cited in five of the eight study sites: Dallas, Denver, Miami, San
Diego, and Seattle. 80 However, the level of organization varied. While law enforcement reported that
gangs are playing an increasingly central role in sex trafficking in San Diego, Seattle, and Miami;
stakeholders in Dallas and Denver noted that the connections between gangs and sex trafficking are more
based on individual facilitators with involvement in both economies. While sex trafficking profits likely
contributed to gang establishments through the involvement of individual actors, it is not clear that gangs
in Dallas and Denver have organized control over segments of the market. In addition, law enforcement
stakeholders and offenders reported evidence that rival gang members network with one another to traffic
women and minors. This fact suggests that while gang members may work as pimps and network socially
with other pimps, it is possible that their involvement in sex trafficking is not directly controlled by their
gang.
Policy Implications
All states and DC should mandate training to ensure that law enforcement is equipped with the
knowledge necessary to identify and pursue cases of human trafficking. As of August 2013, 21 states
required human trafficking training for law enforcement, 81 8 states permitted human trafficking training
for law enforcement, 82 and 21 states and DC have not enacted statutory provisions regarding human
trafficking awareness training (Polaris Project 2013). This study illustrates some overlap between the
actors and networks that facilitate drug and commercial sex markets; the connections discussed above
indicate that investigation of gang activity and drug trafficking may uncover evidence of sex trafficking.
Practice Implications
At an agency-level, cross-training of narcotics, gang, and sex trafficking investigators should be developed
and promoted. Simply sharing information about suspects across units could help build local evidence.
Given the presence of gangs in sex trafficking in more than half of the cities studied, gang units should
dedicate resources to investigate potential involvement in sex trafficking.
Finding 3: Pimps travel in circuits and utilize social networks to
facilitate the transportation of employees to different locations for
work.
Criminal justice stakeholders and offenders reported that pimps use informal travel circuits and social
networks to facilitate the movement of employees to different cities. There are many reasons why pimps
move their employees; respondents explained that pimps traveled to avoid police crackdowns or attend
major events that promised substantial crowds. Pimps also reported travelling to recruit new employees
or market employees as “fresh faces” in the local UCSE. According to law enforcement officials, erotic
massage parlor and Latino brothel owners would also move employees to different locations, sometimes
weekly, in order to meet clients’ demands for new sex workers.
Pimps transported women and girls along circuits that connect different cities with active UCSEs. These
circuits ranged in size. Law enforcement respondents reported local, statewide, regional, and national
circuits. For example, Seattle law enforcement reported a Washington state circuit between Everett,
Seattle, and Tacoma and a regional circuit connecting Portland, Oregon, California cities, and Las Vegas,
Nevada. Atlanta law enforcement observed a Southeast circuit including cities in Tennessee, Alabama,
Florida, North and South Carolina, and Virginia. Law enforcement also described national circuits: one
circuit included cities in New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Texas, and Nevada.
80 Noted gangs included the Bloods, the Crips, and MS-13.
81 The 21 states requiring training are Alaska, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky,
Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming.
82 The 8 states that permit training are Idaho, Kansas, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Virginia, and West
Virginia.
281