RIVERHEAD, NY – Once again, the Suffolk County Correctional Facility in Riverhead will be lit blue throughout January to raise awareness of human trafficking.
January is National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, said Suffolk County Sheriff Errol Toulon. Also in January, the Department of Homeland Security conducts its annual “Blue Campaign” to bring human trafficking spotlight to the public.
To that end, the facade of the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office and the Riverhead Correctional Facility will be illuminated in blue every night throughout January.
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Toulon and the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office have joined the Blue Campaign to eradicate human trafficking in recent years, he said.
“Human trafficking occurs in Suffolk County and in communities across the country,” Toulon said. “Most often these victims are women who are vulnerable due to substance abuse problems and may have had multiple traumatic experiences throughout their lives. It is not uncommon for young people in foster care to be victims of trafficking, but men and women from all walks of life can be victims.”
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Toulon established the Sheriff’s Anti-Trafficking Initiative, or SATI, unit in 2018 and it was the first of its kind in the country to operate from within a correctional facility. The goal of the project is to ensure that all trafficking victims who pass through the Suffolk County Correctional Facility are identified and have access to the services they need to recover, he said.
Survivors also receive help through the START Resource Center and through many nonprofit service providers who work with the Sheriff’s Office.
Since its inception, SATI has conducted 4,224 inmate interviews, identified 282 trafficking victims and identified 170 perpetrators, Toulon said.
Criminal investigations into these traffickers are being coordinated with local, state and federal partners working with the Suffolk County Anti-Trafficking Initiative, he said.
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