ELLICOTT CITY, Md. — Howard County gets $1 million to fight human trafficking.
County Executive Dr. Ball announced the federal grants for the county's Human Trafficking Prevention Coordinating Council.
With the money the county will be able to identify more vulnerable residents and victims, serve more survivors, continue to raise community awareness and bring more traffickers to justice.
A few years ago, the Howard County Police Department launched a human trafficking section with the grant. The department will be able to grow the human trafficking team, enhance training and equipment, and increase undercover operations.
"One of those operations resulted in the arrest of a trafficker and the referral of a victim to critical services. In another case, detectives helped get a 16-year-old girl away from her trafficker and get her into counseling," said Police Chief Lisa Myers. ”The girl stayed in touch with our officers who rescued her from what she called a living nightmare."
The money will be awarded over the next three years.
