Attorney General Brad Schimel has announced the creation of a new division of the Department of Criminal Investigation dedicated to human trafficking.
The Human Trafficking Bureau will promote public safety through proactive enforcement, specialized training, and community outreach. The bureau has already begun coordinating investigative efforts throughout the state.
Local and regional task forces already exist in some parts of Wisconsin, and the bureau will work with them to support victims and to provide specialized training.
The bureau was created through a reorganization of DCI and will not increase DCI’s budget.
Shawano County Sheriff Adam Bieber says he supports the new Trafficking Department, as human trafficking has been something the County has worked on eliminating.
“It’s nice to see the state acknowledge that it is a problem and put some resources towards that problem to help us combat it,” Bieber said. “There are a lot of ways to attack that problem and money and resources are one way, but our culture needs to change also.”
One focus of Shawano County has been getting internet sex crime predators off of the street.