FORCE WIDE  

The world for our Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking (MSHT) is a niche and specialist one, and they are constantly cracking down on signs of slavery at local hand car washes, nail bars, village takeaways, and even restaurants.

Information from our communities can – and does – prove crucial in helping protect those who are being exploited or subjected to modern slavery.

We spoke to Detective Sergeant Richard Kirk to learn more about all the work his teams do and raise awareness of modern slavery and human trafficking, and the different ways in which crimes of this nature can appear within our communities.

Read more to find out how to spot the signs, and ultimately gain confidence to come forward so we can gather information and safeguard those involved.

What is modern slavery and human trafficking and what kind of crimes do your team deal with?

Modern day slavery and human trafficking are often unseen crimes that go unnoticed in our local communities. Whether that’s at a local hand car wash, a nail bar in town, a village takeaway, or even a popular restaurant – slavery and trafficking is a growing cause for concern across our entire force area.

Slavery is an umbrella term for activities involved when one person obtains or holds another person against their will in compelled service, and someone is classed as a victim of slavery if they are:

• Forced to work through mental or physical threat
• Owned or controlled by an 'employer', usually through mental or physical abuse or the threat of abuse
• Dehumanised, treated as a commodity or bought and sold as ‘property’
• Physically constrained or have restrictions placed on his/her freedom

There is no standard victim profile for modern day slavery. Victims can be men, women, and children of all ages, but it is normally most prevalent amongst the most vulnerable – including minority groups or those who are socially excluded.

The most common forms of modern slavery and human trafficking are:

• Sex trafficking: forced to work in the sex industry, in pornography, phone sex lines, internet chat rooms, escort agencies
• Forced labour: working for low pay, or no pay, in poor conditions with threats of punishment
• Servants: working at their employer's home for low pay, or no pay, where they're often abused and can't leave
• Forced marriage
• Forced crime: begging, pick-pocketing, selling drugs, bag snatching
• Organ harvesting: trafficking people to sell their organs for transplant

So who’s on the team and how does it work?

The Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Team sit within our Protecting Vulnerable People Unit (PVP) and is made up of a Detective Chief Inspector, Detective Inspector, myself as the Detective Sergeant, six Detective Constables, and a Police Constable.

Not only do we tackle modern day slavery and human trafficking within our area, we also provide specialist training, support and guidance to colleagues to help them understand the complex issues around these kind of crimes in more detail.

We build relationships across charities, local authorities, education, health, local communities, and local businesses to create a proactive forum to raise awareness, gather information, and work collaboratively to protect the most vulnerable within society.

We also have the Humber Modern Day Slavery Partnership which is made up of myself, the modern slavery leads from our four local authorities, and a specialist employed by the University of Hull.

Together we share information that in turn enables us to build a bigger picture around the offending and act upon it through conducting intensification periods, days or weeks of action where we relentlessly target areas of most concern.

This is all evidence-based data that we collectively retrieve in an effort to tackle all the crimes associated with modern slavery and human trafficking, ultimately to safeguard victims and hold those accountable for their crimes.

We also work alongside other partners such as organized immigration crime teams, housing authorities, the labour abuse authority, and environmental health as often there are multiple touch points when we do come across incidents where modern slavery, human trafficking, and sexual exploitation are in play.

What successes have you seen since the team was established?

Recently we closed down a popular restaurant in the East Riding of Yorkshire area where we saw seven people being exploited, working for next to nothing, and all being housed in a one bedroom apartment above the restaurant where seven people were sharing two bunk beds.

We also saw issues with the kitchen in terms of poor food hygiene  so had to bring environmental health in, as well as the local authority housing officers.

This led to seven people being safeguarded and one arrested for crimes including offences under the Immigration Act and Human Trafficking.

We have conducted operational activity alongside a multitude of officers from our Kinetic Intervention Team, Child Sexual and Criminal Exploitation teams, the Police Dog Unit, Digital Media and Digital Forensics Investigators, Crime Scene Investigators, Licensing Officers, Adult Safeguarding teams, and even other police forces including all Yorkshire forces, the Metropolitan police and forces overseas, as we do tend to see a lot of cross-border criminality for these kind of offences.

It really is a collaborative approach, and since the start of this year, we have executed multiple warrants, leading to multiple arrests for crimes such as money laundering, forced labour, human trafficking, possession of an offensive weapon, and offences under the Immigration Act.

Officers have also seized approximately £100,000 worth of cash, thousands of digital devices, heaps of paperwork and identity documents during searches of residential and business properties.

Since the team was established we have rolled out a number of training sessions for patrol officers, neighbourhood policing teams, and partners across the force area, leading to an increase in reports not only from our communities, but also our force colleagues as they become more aware of their surroundings, know what to look out for, and how to report it.

How difficult is it to engage with victims of these kind of crimes?

It is extremely hard to engage with victims of these kinds of crimes, especially since a lot of them are foreign nationals and so we often must ensure we have a translator present. Not only this, but a lot of victims don’t actually recognize themselves as victims, which makes it all the more difficult to get them to open up and come forward to report what is happening to them.

Victims are often under constant threat from their exploiter and may fear that they will be arrested or deported if the police find out, rather than knowing they can be signposted to specific partner agencies who can safeguard and support them properly.

What support is out there for victims?

Support is available through referrals into the National Referral Mechanism (NRM). You can find out more here.

This provides victims with the support they require to rebuild their lives away from their exploiters. That support is offered by the partners that we work closely with both locally and nationally.

What is your overall message to members of the public?

My overall message is to stay vigilant and know how to spot the signs:

• Suffering from physical or psychological abuse, appearing withdrawn and looking dishevelled
• Never seen travelling alone
• Avoiding eye contact and seeming reluctant to have a conversation
• Appearing fearful of authorities in particular law enforcement
• Seeming unfamiliar with the neighbourhood in which they are living and working
• Living in overcrowded accommodation
• Having very few personal possessions
• Having no access to personal ID documents
• Being dropped off and collected at work every day – either very early, or very late
• Seemingly being under the influence of other people

Just look again. If you suspect any suspicious activity or any possible signs of exploitation, modern slavery or human trafficking please report it:

• On our non-emergency number 101
• In an emergency always call 999
• Remain anonymous by reporting to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111
• Via the Modern Slavery Helpline on 0800 0121 700