Hotels to Begin Training Employees to Spot Sex Trafficking
Some new laws are now on the books in Minnesota including one that affects local hotels. That law is part of the fight against sex trafficking, a continuing problem in the northwest suburbs.
Under the law, every hotel and motel in the state will be required to train employees on how to identify sex trafficking.
“It’s definitely a win-win,” said Commander Tony Gruenig of the Brooklyn Center Police Department. “We need all the extra help we can get. There’s only a few officers out there. The more people we get calling in suspicious activity the better everyone is.”
“Welcome News for Police”
The new sex trafficking law is welcome news for police.
“Yes, yes,” Gruenig said. “It’s a very good law.”
Brooklyn Center has a cluster of hotels, which can be problematic for this kind of offense.
“Wherever you have hotels, you always have some prostitution and sex trafficking,” Gruenig said. “That’s just because of the way hotels are set up and the transient aspect of it.”
Hotel employees will eventually receive training to spot sex trafficking. They will be looking for cues and hints that something is not right.
“Tip offs would be an older male with a younger female,” Gruenig said. “Groups of young ladies with one older person.”
Prior to the Super Bowl, Brooklyn Center police and hotel managers teamed up to conduct training sessions for their workers.
“They recognized that sex trafficking was going to increase throughout the metro,” Gruenig said, “because of some of the side effects or residual affect of the Super Bowl.”
Implementation Starts Nov. 1
The Minnesota Department of Health will develop sex trafficking prevention training materials, says Mary Smith, a spokesperson for the Minnesota Lodging Association. Smith while the law goes into effect today, the implementation date for approved training is Nov. 1
