The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) released a new report this week, entitled “Trafficking in human beings: identification of potential and presumed victims. A community policing approach.”
The publication was developed from information gathered during an OSCE-directed 2010 meeting between anti-trafficking and community policing experts. The organization hopes that that report will assist law enforcement officials to combat trafficking more effectively.
Because victims of trafficking can be difficult to identify, they are often mistakenly arrested and/or deported, thus preventing the documentation of these crimes. OSCE’s Senior Police Adviser Knut Dreyer commented that the new report guidelines might assist police in responding to victims of trafficking, for whom they are frequently the first point of contact.
Compiled from: “OSCE launches guide for police on identifying and assisting trafficking victims (21 June 2011).” OSCE.