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U.S. NEWSFriday 5 February 2016
This image provided by the Department of Homeland Security
(DHS) shows a poster part of the Blue Campaign to raise public
awareness of human trafficking. fight.
ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS
Associated Press
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) —
The Columbus airport is
joining its counterparts
nationwide in training em-
ployees to recognize signs
of human trafficking in an
effort to curb exploitation. monitors and airport shop-
Beginning this month, all
400 employees at Port Co-
lumbus International Air-
port will view a 30-minute
video on spotting signs of
trafficking. Workers include will see a film that defines
police officers, mainte-
nance workers and people
staffing information booths. state and lists tips for rec-
The awareness campaign
in Columbus joins those at
Navy ship eyed for Maine-to-Nova Scotia ferry service
TOM BELL
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) —
The new operator of a ferry
service between Maine
and Nova Scotia is having
such a hard time finding a
vessel that it’s asking the
U.S. Navy for help.
Bay Ferries Ltd. is eying a
mothballed high-speed
vessel owned by the Navy.
Harold Pachios, an attor-
ney for the company, said
the vessel was formerly
used as a private ferry and
later acquired by the U.S.
government and turned
over to the Navy. He said
Columbus joins airports boosting
human trafficking awareness
clude people who:
—Have few or no personal
possessions and aren’t in
control of their own money,
financial records or bank
account.
—Aren’t in control of their
identification documents
and aren’t allowed to
speak for themselves.
—Can’t move freely in an
airport or on a plane or are
being controlled, closely
watched or followed.
Other clues include people
who can’t give details of
their location or flight infor- Polaris, a Washington, D.C.,
mation, and have lost track
of time.
“We certainly hope that
it’s going to be productive
and result in helping some
of the victims out of this very industry to prevent traffick-
horrible situation,” said Ron
Borden, chief operations
officer of the Columbus Re-
gional Airport Authority.
The Homeland Security
messages pose a number
of scenarios. They include:
“Does she seem controlled
and afraid?” asks a ques-
tion superimposed over the
photograph of a young
woman.
“Is he forced to work for lit-
tle or no pay?” says a sec-
ond question over a pic-
ture of a teenage boy.
Law enforcement officers
with the Transportation Se-
curity Administration and
U.S. Customs and Border
Protection also get regular
training on how to recog-
nize and prevent traffick-
ing, as do TSA agents who
screen travelers.
Associated Press The nonprofit Airline Am-
13 airports across the coun-
try including JFK and La-
Guardia in New York, Chi-
cago-O’Hare and Los An-
geles International Airport
where the Department
of Homeland Security has
posted messages on video
ping bags. Other industries,
including hotels and truck-
ing, also are increasing ef-
forts to detect trafficking.
In Ohio, airport workers
human trafficking, gives
examples of cases in the
ognizing trafficking. Signs
of trafficked individuals in-
the Navy has never put the service, which failed to at-
vessel into service. tract enough passengers to
The Nova Scotia govern- sustain operations without
ment last fall selected the high subsidies.
Canadian company to The province has selected
run the service between Bay Ferries for the 2016 sea-
Portland, Maine, and Yar- son, but the company’s
mouth, inability to find a suitable
Nova Scotia, but the up- vessel has stalled contract
coming summer season is negotiations with the prov-
in jeopardy unless the com- ince.
pany quickly lines up a ves- The delay is making it diffi-
sel. cult for Bay Ferries to mar-
Nova Star Cruises ended ket the service to bus tour
the service in October after operators, who sell tickets
two years. Nova Scotia tax- months in advance.
payers spent $40.5 million The Canadian news ser-
(Canadian) subsidizing the vice CBC News reported
Other industries have
ramped up trafficking
awareness. Colorado-
based Truckers Against
Trafficking trains drivers to
recognize the signs and en-
courages cooperation with
police to stop it.
anti-trafficking organiza-
tion, works with the hotel
ing, including a current ini-
tiative with the American
Hotel and Lodging Asso-
ciation to provide training
for hotel employees in Bal-
timore.
The hotel and lodging as-
sociation is educating the
employees on human traf-
ficking, establishing proce-
dures for reporting suspect-
ed cases and encouraging
other companies to join the
bassadors International
has offered training at two
dozen airports in the U.S. as
well as Kiev, Ukraine.
Last month, San Francisco
International Airport trained
about 220 employees who
come in contact with the
public, including baggage
handlers and maintenance
workers, the first in a series Diego International; Minne-
of sessions for Bay-area air-
ports.
The training targeted po-
tential trafficking ahead
of Sunday’s Super Bowl,
but the airport is using the
event to focus attention on
the overall problem.
“Human trafficking is not
a new issue, it’s not here
Wednesday that a tour
operator from Connecti-
cut has canceled dozens
of room reservations at the
Rodd Grand Hotel in Yar-
mouth over concerns there
may not be a ferry service
between Nova Scotia and
Maine this summer.
Pingree said in an email to
The Associated Press she is
doing everything she can
to restore the ferry service.
“If there is a surplus Navy
vessel that can be put to
work in Portland it would be
a win for Maine and a win
for the Navy,” she said.
just because of the Super
Bowl,” said spokesman
Doug Yakel. “It’s a 365-day-
a-year type of issue that we
need to work through.”
Cleveland Hopkins Interna-
tional Airport has trained
its police officers and like-
ly will expand training to
other employees ahead
of this summer’s Republi-
can National Convention.
Last March, a Cleveland
man was indicted on pros-
titution charges in a case
involving a woman alleg-
edly brought in from China
through the airport. Charg-
es were dropped after a
witness couldn’t be locat-
ed.
The Cincinnati/Northern
Kentucky International
Airport has investigators
trained to detect traffick-
ing and has also trained
employees to look for signs,
said spokesman Bobby
Spann.
Other airports where
Homeland Security anti-
trafficking messages were
displayed last summer:
Baltimore-Washington; Bos-
ton’s Logan International;
Ontario International in San
Bernardino, California; San
apolis-St. Paul Internation-
al; Pittsburgh International;
Miami International; and
Ronald Reagan National
Airport in Washington, D.C.
Similar messages are cur-
rently on display in the
Houston, Jacksonville,
Florida, and San Francisco
airports.q
King in an email said the
ferry service is a significant
economic driver for the re-
gion and the state.
“I will do all that I can to
help the City of Portland
position itself to resume the
service as soon as possible,
including advocating on
the City’s behalf to the U.S.
Navy to explore vessels that
could be put toward that
use,” he said.
Pachios said officials at Bay
Ferries are confident they
will secure a vessel before
the start of the summer
season.q