Detective Lt. Lance Burnham of the Vermont State Police told the House Judiciary Committee that there is a direct correlation between heroin and other opiates and sex crimes in Vermont.
“I’ll be the first to admit that I have been floored,” Burnham said. Most of the victims are women and children, but men are trafficked as well, he said.
Over the past five years, anti-human-trafficking efforts have increased in Vermont. In April 2010, a law created a task force that includes the attorney general, representatives from human services and civic advocacy groups to monitor the issue.
Burnham is part of a steering committee that oversees the work of a human trafficking law enforcement task force, which includes four Vermont State Police detectives as well as members of the FBI, Homeland Security and some municipal departments. That committee has been meeting for about a year.
“If you had asked us 12 months ago, is this a problem in Vermont, I don’t think we would have had an answer for you,” Burnham said. “I come here today to tell you we have a problem.”
Often, trafficking begins with addiction. Women and men become dependent on heroin, cocaine or other opiates. Once a victim is hooked, they may be forced to perform sexual acts to pay off drug debts.
Underaged girls and boys are involved at an alarming rate, Burnham told lawmakers.
In some cases, Vermonters are being taken out of state, ending up in nearby metropolitan areas such as New York and Boston, but frequently it is happening within the state. In Vermont, Burnham told lawmakers, it can be as short a distance as Burlington to South Burlington.
“They’re not going far,” Burnham said.
There are several investigations going on now into cases like this, Burnham said, but he was unable to discuss specifics.
Although there is no mandatory training program for Vermont police specifically about human trafficking, there is an effort to teach officers to recognize warning signs so that they can be on the look out during routine traffic stops or other encounters.
“What else is going on in that car?” Burnham said. “If you have a proverbial hair that’s standing up on the back of your neck, trust it.”
He is also reaching out to officers tasked with working on drug issues to keep them alert for signs that forced sex crimes may also be going on.
He asked lawmakers not to create any new laws, assuring them that existing federal and state regulations are sufficient. But he did say that in responding to victims of human trafficking, the state will need to use human services and other resources for the victims.
“If we don’t provide it to them, they’re going to end up back doing the same thing,” Burnham said.
Burnham’s testimony was part of a larger report to lawmakers on anti-human-trafficking efforts in Vermont by border patrol and Homeland Security.
Sean McVey, of the U.S. Border Patrol unit in Swanton, told lawmakers that in the past two years there have been seven prosecutions resulting from cases where border patrol agents discovered women crossing into Vermont to work as prostitutes.
In those cases, which resulted in charges for prostitution across state lines, the women were headed to farms in Vermont where migrant laborers work.
Vermont adopted a law in 2011 that created penalties of up to life in prison for human trafficking.
Rep. Kesha Ram, D-Burlington, who sponsored the anti-trafficking law, sat in on the committee meeting. Coming from a background working with Women Helping Battered Women, she said she was pleased to hear law enforcement’s recognition of trafficking.
“You’re on the front line hearing stories from people who don’t realize they’re being trafficked,” Ram said. “What I think we’re seeing is that collaboration means more people are aware.”
