U.S. Marshals combat child sex trafficking
JACKSON, Tenn. — How can you save your child from being targeted by sex traffickers?
“We’re highly trained individuals, and fugitive apprehensions is a hallmark of the Marshals Service, and it’s something we take great pride in,” said U.S. Marshal Tyreece Miller.
In 2020, the Marshals arrested over 90,000 fugitives.
The Marshals Service figured if they are specially trained to find missing fugitives, they could also use those skills to find missing children. From there Operation Volunteer Strong was born.
“Children are precious. They all deserve the same opportunities and the same environment to thrive, and so unfortunately some children become victims of human trafficking and that’s something we’re trying to combat. It’s a serious problem in our country, and we’re just trying to do our small part,” Miller said.
Together, the Marshals Service and local law enforcement create a combined strike force.
“We have a lot of databases, a lot of resources, a lot of funds we can use to help these local agencies, so really it’s a great partnership. It keeps the community safe, it helps us accomplish our mission, and at the end of the day the bottom line [is] we want to save communities,” Miller said.
Miller says educating the public is going to be the greatest asset to help keep kids from going missing and to find those that are.
“If we can educate parents and give them the tools and the resources and knowledge, things that they need to make sure their child does not go missing, then it’s a win for everybody,” he said.
Miller says some of the ways to help is having safe guards on the kid’s devices, blocking certain content, keeping the profile private, and most importantly having a conversation with the child to make sure they are educated.
Miller says he would much rather be a helicopter parent than have his child taken and become apart of the missing child statistics.
Jackson Young Professionals hosted Miller to speak at the West Tennessee Farmers Market.
