Brazos County Sheriff’s Office and Unbound BCS Receive $1.5 Million Grant

The Brazos County Sheriff’s Office and Unbound Now Bryan College Station have partnered together and received a grant of $1.5 million to fight human trafficking in the Brazos Valley.

Deputy David Wilcox says the money will be split between the two agencies.

“We are going to focus on working on identify victims and building cases and investigations for prosecution and Unbound is going to work on providing resources and advocacy for victims of human trafficking,” says Wilcox.

Wilcox says their portion of the money will be used to hire two new investigators as part of a task force.

“It will include training for them to become subject matter experts in human trafficking as well as give them resources needed to perform the job,” says Wilcox.

According to a news release, Unbound BCS will assist victims of sex trafficking and labor trafficking on their healing journey towards increased safety, independence, self-sufficiency, and stability.

The grant money will be distributed over the next three years.

Click below for comments from David Wilcox, visiting with WTAW’s Chelsea Reber:

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News release from the Brazos County Sheriff’s Office:

The Brazos County Sheriff’s Office and Unbound Now Bryan College Station announce a new initiative to combat the human trafficking in the Brazos Valley.

Human Trafficking is the fastest-growing criminal industry in the world with an estimated 40.3 Million victims worldwide. It is also happening right here in the Brazos Valley and our community is at a special risk because of our location within the “Texas Triangle” which connects DFW, Houston, and San Antonio to the rest of the country. This Texas Triangle region is considered one of the more heavily trafficked areas in the United States.

Unbound Now BCS supports survivors and resources the community to fight human trafficking in the Brazos Valley. They operate the only 24/7 crisis referral line exclusive for all human trafficking survivors across the Brazos Valley. Their advocacy team provides immediate on scene response in the recovery of a victim, and continues providing long term case management thereafter. This goes hand in hand with the mission of the Brazos County Sheriff’s Office to provide the citizens of Brazos County with quality law enforcement services. Sheriff’s Office employees will be fair, respectful, and unbiased in their interactions with all citizens, and they will perform their duties with professionalism and integrity. Victims of human trafficking often don’t know they are being exploited and signs can be missed unless a person knows what to look for. Our response to the plague of human trafficking in all forms is to provide specialized personnel to identify victims, investigate potential crimes, ensure thoroughly prepared cases are provided to the prosecution, and most importantly provide victim centered, trauma informed services to those trapped in the endless cycle of exploitation.

To achieve this response, the Brazos County Sheriff’s Office and Unbound BCS have partnered together and received a grant award for $1.5 million dollars distributed over the next three years. With this funding the Sheriff’s Office will hire specialized personnel trained specifically to combat human trafficking. The Sheriff’s Office will strive to establish partnerships with all law enforcement jurisdictions over the life of this grant. Unbound BCS will assist victims of sex trafficking and labor trafficking on their healing journey towards increased safety, independence, self-sufficiency, and stability. These services will cover a ten-county area including: Washington, Leon, Robertson, Madison, Grimes, Burleson, Lee, Walker, and Brazos County.

Additionally, these funds will be used to establish a multidisciplinary regional task force that will incorporate community leaders from across the Brazos Valley to support and encourage a collaborative effort among local and federal law enforcement, prosecutors, victim service providers, and other partners to end human trafficking in our community. This Task Force will be committed to collaborate in the fight against human trafficking by increasing community awareness for the prevention and identification of human trafficking victims, increasing investigation and prosecution of human trafficking cases at a local, state, and federal level, and providing coordinated, comprehensive, trauma-informed services to meet the individualized needs of human trafficking victims.