In the Dock

Regular communication needs to be sustained with trafficked persons when they are moved to otherregions to ensure their continued participation (see Chapter 7). An experienced officer stated thatsuch contact should be in person to show the importance of, and commitment to, the investigation. Itwas also stated that if the trafficked person wanted to return home then this should be permitted andregular contact sustained. There have been successful prosecutions where victims have given livevideo link testimony from countries of origin. To overcome heavy workloads and resources associatedwith regular contact, some participants recommended that an independent advocate should beallocated to ensure that the CJS process is understood by the trafficked person and for regularlyupdating them. This is notwithstanding the importance of consistency of officers working on the case.Investigator trainingArticle 9 of the Directive stipulates, “Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure thatpersons, units or services responsible for investigating or prosecuting the offences referred to inArticles 2 and 3 are trained accordingly.” To date there have been numerous training packages:UKHTC’s four-day senior investigating officer course (which was intended to be embedded intomainstream training by the end of 2009); a trafficking module was also scripted for National PolicingImprovement Agency (NPIA) to train probationary police officers at ACPO levels. However, theseinitiatives appear to have lost momentum and have not been taken forward.In 2012, Gwent Police produced a Human Trafficking Training for Investigating and SeniorInvestigating Officers course, which is accompanied by a restricted operational guide. This guideincludes the topics of: types of trafficking; UKHTC tactical advice; support providers and the NRM;First Responders legislation; what to consider in the “golden hour” including risk indicators; contactpoints; and best practice across the UK. This guide is currently being approved by NPIA as well assenior investigators that have trafficking investigation experience. Many interviewees raised concernsin respect of the sustainability of this new training initiative given previous attempts to produce andembed trafficking into investigator training. To increase the number of prosecutions and convictions itis essential that police tasked with investigating trafficking undergo training which is embedded intotraining structures and, importantly, reflects the complexities of the crime.Specialist unitsThere are two contrasting views in relation to the need for specialised units to investigate trafficking.One suggests that specialist units are needed because of the very complex nature of trafficking.Specialist units, as recommended in the EU strategy, 211 have proved to be effective where used in theUK. Small specialised units within each force likened to the local human-trafficking task forces in theUnited States were suggested, or one operational centralised unit, like the UKHTC but withoperational powers. In Germany, the Bundeskriminalamt (Federal Criminal Intelligence Service)officers, working on trafficking, focus on a particular nationality that further entrenches learntspecialism.Good practice – United States (US) law enforcement trafficking taskforcesWith a view to enhancing law enforcement capability to identify and prosecute trafficking locally, theUS federal Government funded 42 multi-agency law enforcement task forces in a bid to bring togetherfederal, county and local law enforcement stakeholders to engage in collaborative problem solvingactivities. A study reported that although the concept of multi-agency taskforces was relatively new,the participating law enforcement agencies were more likely to perceive trafficking as a problem in211European Commission, The EU Strategy towards the Eradication of Trafficking in Human Beings 2012–2016. (2012) [online].Available at: www.ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/doc_centre/crime/docs/trafficking_in_human_beings_eradication-2012_2016_en.pdf[last accessed March 2013].61