For Immediate Release:
Wednesday, April 16, 2025
Contact: Ben Conroy
(984) 383-9038
RALEIGH – Today, Attorney General Jeff Jackson joined 41 bipartisan Attorneys General urging Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to require the next operator of the National Human Trafficking Hotline to better cooperate with local law enforcement. The current operator, Polaris, has regularly failed to share critical information about potential human trafficking with law enforcement.
“The Human Trafficking Hotline only works if law enforcement can respond to potential crimes as quickly as possible,” said Attorney General Jeff Jackson. “Any delay in these tips getting to the right place puts lives at risk. Every second counts in these situations – that’s why we’re asking the federal government to make sure the next operator of this hotline communicates better with law enforcement.”
States rely on the Hotline to forward third-party tips of suspected human trafficking to local law enforcement to arrest traffickers, safely recover victims, and uncover evidence of trafficking rings and operations. Polaris has operated the National Human Trafficking Hotline since 2007 with millions of dollars in funding authorized by Congress. However, the attorneys general recently learned that Polaris was failing to forward third-party tips about adult victims to state law enforcement except in limited circumstances. Additionally, the Hotline has taken up to several months to share those tips with the state. If state and local law enforcement don’t receive these tips in a timely manner, they can’t act to help people.
HHS is currently seeking applicants for a new operator of the Hotline. The new operator would be required to develop a plan for working with law enforcement.
Attorney General Jackson was joined in signing this letter by the Attorneys General of Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
You can read the letter here.
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