LI Correctional Facility Goes Blue To Raise Sex Trafficking Awareness

SUFFOLK COUNTY, NY — The center facade of the Suffolk County Correctional Facility will be illuminated in blue throughout January to raise awareness about human trafficking.

Suffolk County Sheriff Errol Toulon announced the initiative, adding that January is "National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month", which coincides with the Department of Homeland Security’s annual "Blue Campaign" — a national public awareness effort to educate the public to recognize the signs of victims of human trafficking.

Toulon and the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office have embraced the Blue Campaign over the past few years, he said.

"Human trafficking is happening in Suffolk County and in communities across the country," said Toulon. "While often these victims are women who are vulnerable due to substance abuse issues or traumatic experiences throughout their lives, men and women from all backgrounds can become victims."

Toulon instituted the Sheriff’s Anti-Trafficking Initiative unit in 2018 — the first of its kind in the country to be operating from inside a correctional facility.

The program's objective is to ensure that all victims of human trafficking who pass through the Suffolk County Correctional Facility are identified and have access to the services they need to recover, Toulon said.

Additionally, they are supported throughout their long-term journey as survivors with the help of the S.T.A.R.T. Resource Center and through many non-profit service providers partnered with the Sheriff’s Office.

Since inception, S.A.T.I. has conducted 7,415 inmate interviews and identified 354 human trafficking victims and 224 perpetrators, Toulon said.

Criminal investigations against the traffickers are coordinated with local, state, and federal partners working with the Suffolk County Anti-Trafficking Initiative, he said.