WRICOPS at WSU Spokane Searches for a Local Response to Slavery in the 21st Century

SPOKANE, Wash. – Hundreds of thousands of women and children are sold into slavery around the world every year to work in sweatshops and brothels. The Western Regional Institute for Community Oriented Public Safety (WRICOPS) at Washington State University Spokane and the Inland Northwest Task Force on Human Trafficking are hosting a workshop Jan. 8 to assist in the understanding of slavery in the 21st century and how to help put a stop to human trafficking. 

“Human trafficking is not just a problem of the third world source nations,” said John Goldman, executive director of WRICOPS.  “With Spokane being situated on a significant trafficking corridor, the victimization of vulnerable women and children is happening right here in our region, and the victims are U.S. citizens as well as foreign-born immigrants.” 

The program is free and open to the public and includes a regional update on a recent research project conducted in the Spokane area that identified examples of forced prostitution, labor exploitation, and enslaved mail-order brides. The workshop will also help first responders understand the dynamics of trafficking and how to develop a coordinated response for victims.  

The workshop will take place from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. at the Westminster Congregational United Church of Christ at 415 South Washington Street in Spokane. For more information and to register, please visit www.wricops.org or call 509-358-7949. 

“As a part of the Training Delivery Network for the US Department of Justice’s COPS Office, WRICOPS has been committed to raising the level of awareness of people in our community to understand and recognized the indicators of Human Trafficking,” said Goldman. “Washington State was the first to adopt an anti-trafficking statute, and WRICOPS research will be a component in a report being prepared for the Washington Legislature.” 

About the Western Regional Institute for Community Oriented Public Safety

The Western Regional Institute for Community Oriented Public Safety (WRICOPS) provides regional training, develops training curriculum, and conducts on-site assessments by utilizing a training and leadership cadre (a team of local government officials, citizen representatives, and law enforcement professionals).  

WRICOPS is a five-state partnership of Idaho, Montana, South Dakota, Washington, and Wyoming involving Criminal Justice Training Commissions/Peace Officer Standards and Training organizations, police and sheriffs associations, and universities. As a national partnership model, WRICOPS is one of 27 university-practitioner collaborations funded by The United States Department of Justice, Office of Community Policing Services known as Regional Community Policing Institutes, and receives frequent visits of delegations from other states to learn from its success.   

The WSU philosophy of teaching, research, and public service provides a desirable organizational environment to engage a network of universities and law enforcement agencies to provide on-site regional COP training and skills development.