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Walnut Creek proclaims January as Human Trafficking Prevention Month; task force outlines local response
Summary
Council issued a proclamation recognizing Human Trafficking Prevention Month. A representative of the Contra Costa Human Trafficking Task Force outlined recent local work including hospital-based victim services, business compliance visits and prevention programming with faith communities.
Mayor Cindy Darling presented a proclamation Jan. 21 recognizing January as Human Trafficking Prevention Month in Walnut Creek.
Katrina Natale of the Contra Costa Human Trafficking Task Force accepted the proclamation and told the council the task force is a county-level partnership of law enforcement, government and nonprofit agencies. Natale described recent work in Walnut Creek: hospital-based victim services coordinated with John Muir Health and Walnut Creek Police, visits with code-enforcement and law-enforcement partners to six massage establishments suspected of labor exploitation, and prevention programming delivered to two local churches to educate parents about online risks.
The nut graf: the proclamation emphasizes prevention, survivor support, and partnership across agencies and community organizations. Natale said the task force left informational packets with the city clerk and highlighted that survivors can be both residents and people who pass through the city given Walnut Creek’s location along regional highways.
Mayor Darling and council members thanked the task force for its work and for local outreach efforts, and noted the difficulty of imagining trafficking in Walnut Creek while underscoring that exploitation can occur in any community.
